So, yeah
It's official, being sick sucks, especially when you start feeling ok when you go to sleep and then feel like shit again when you wake up. Due to this I don't have a real rant to post, but I want to keep this as at least a weekly thing and if I start slacking on week 2; well, that's just bad. So I have for you a short discussion on the term 'otaku.'
Otaku(or お宅) literally means 'house,' but the inherent implication (in Japanese) when calling a person otaku is that they never (or rarely) leave their house. An otaku has little to no social life and probably doesn't have any friends except for other otaku. The equivalent idea in
However, in the American lexicon the term has taken on a different meaning. Fans of anime have taken to calling themselves otaku because they don’t understand the negative connotations of the word. These fans range from slightly more than casual fans to actual otaku (in the Japanese sense of the word). People wear it around like a badge of honor and, honestly, that bothers me. If I told them that pendejo (for those of you who don’t speak Spanish, pendejo literally means pubic hair, but is used more like 'asshole') means the same thing would they start calling themselves that?
Let's face it how many people would refer to themselves as 'geek' or 'nerd' (unless they are trying to beat others to the punch). Admittedly, those terms have become less derogatory lately because the increased use of computers has led to an increase of our numbers (yes I said our, I can't really deny it since I'm a programmer). Yet, some of the very same people who would feel insulted if you call them nerd refer to themselves as otaku. It defies all logic.
I have accepted the fact that this unlikely to change, hell we still call bell peppers 'peppers' even though they are really chilies. I even accept the fact that in the English language we like to steal words from other languages and change their meanings. But it still makes me disappointed to see people accept a nickname without knowing what it truly means.
posted by chibigodzilla at 1:57 PM
7 Comments:
Silver Lining!
With my voice all out of whack, I can do a kick ass Humungus impression.
It seems to me that all languages do this with words from other languages. Japanese being a classic example of the use of loadwords in contexts that make no sense to native speakers of that language. I think what it means is that as language continually diverges the same words come to mean different things in different languages. So although Otaku is very negative in Japanese it's only partially wierd in English, just as Kamikaze in Japanese is a badge of honor, in English it's looked on as a stupid suicidal move.
-Ichigo
wow...after looking at the comments i have been reminded of a time i was waiting for the bus to get me out of the hell pin(school)and this one girl was saying that she hated her church for not let her practice Buddisum and so i'm like ... and trufully i wanted to slap her. its the same with words
P.S. she was wanting to practice it cause she's 'obsessed with Japan that's why i wanted to slap her.
I learned what "otaku" meant after I heard it explained in a "Learn Japanese" podcast. Ever since then, whenever I hear the word used, I chuckle a little to myself. I agree with you that it probably won't change, but we can at least educate people.
I should probably remind you that you have a shirt emblazoned with the word 'Geek'. Just incase you forgot.
im a porgrammer, what else, aside from a geek, could i possably be?
But I like calling my self an otaku! i know what it means in Japan, but, seeing as it describes me to a tee, I should use it. We aren't in Japan so it means something else. It's called consensus reality. As long as the majority of people in the area decide that its a good thing, it will remain a good thing.
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