How octopi get you jobs and help pass exams
December 13, 2007
In Japanese, wordplay and homonyms are quite common. As a lazy Japanese student, this humor often escapes me and I need them explained slowly, with graphs, drawings, and finger puppets. Here’s an example:
Octopus / ã?Šã??ã?¨ãƒ‘ス
This little delicious character has å?ˆæ ¼, or “pass” written on it. The English word “octopus” can be broken into the syllables “o-ku-to-pa-su”. Taking this, “oku” is the verb for “to place (down)” “okuto” would mean, “When placed down” and finally “pa-su” = “pass”. So “Octopus” becomes “When this is placed down on a table, you pass”.
This is a small little good luck charm that my lovely mother in law gave me to bolster my job search adventure. With this I should be able to become president of a small budding nation. Octopus!
