# Play On Words



## akina

Do the Japanese use Plays on Words?
Like, a sheep could say here on Tv, "You can't bleat it" Bleat replacing beat.

Does the Japanese language use this too?


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## Eso

Very often. I can't think of many off the top of my head right now.

I know that for this one business for kennels or vet or something, they list their phone number as xxxx-xx11 but they pronounce the 1 as "wan"

"wan wan" is how a dog barks in Japan. "wan" also sounds like 'one' in English.

There are many many others out there, though.


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## canisay16

Definitely. Japanese has so many homonyms that plays on words are easier than in English. The first one that comes to my mind (don't ask why!) is an example from a Japanese T.V. show. One of the characters used the phrase "hen na koto," meaning "weird things," and the other person interprets it as meaning "weird koto (Japanese mucial instrument)". Bad example (its more of a visual effect in the show, so it's not at all funny here), but it was the first one that popped into my head


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## karuna

I recently watched an episode where a young man was chastised for having untidy room and that dust (_hokori_) is everywhere. He answered that it is ok for a man to live life with pride (also _hokori_).


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## cheshire

にゃん（なん）といっても「だじゃれ」（駄洒落）（ダジャレ）、「言葉遊び」、古くは和歌などの「掛詞（かけことば）」などで検索してみることをお奨めするワン（わ）！

ペット会社の商品に「ニャンともワンだふる」という商品があったよ。「なんとも、ワンダフル」の意味でね。

無数に例があるから、検索してみてくださいなー。


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## akina

cheshire said:


> にゃん（なん）といっても「だじゃれ」（駄洒落）（ダジャレ）、「言葉遊び」、古くは和歌などの「掛詞（かけことば）」などで検索してみることをお奨めするワン（わ）！
> 
> ペット会社の商品に「ニャンともワンだふる」という商品があったよ。「なんとも、ワンダフル」の意味でね。
> 
> 無数に例があるから、検索してみてくださいなー。



Uhm..I can't read any of that...I'm sorry!


Thanks everyone though =D


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## MariposaChou

akina said:


> Uhm..I can't read any of that...I'm sorry!
> 
> 
> Thanks everyone though =D



I think that Cheshire was telling you that *nyan *or *nan *(meow!) is used in many puns as well, just like *wan *(woof!)

Cheshire recommends looking up puns in *waka*, which is a type of Japanese poetry with 31 syllables.  Also, since there are so many puns, Cheshire can't give you examples of all of them.  You'll have to look that up yourself.  

But Cheshire does provide one example of a pun that is used in the name of a pet company.  The name is *nantomo wandafuru*, which means "quite wonderful!"  The pun is that the katakana writing for *nan *and for *wan *make it appear as if *nan *is written to mean _meow!_ and *wan *is written to mean _woof!  _Such a cute play on words!
Hope that helps.  ^^;


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## allegheny

Puns and other devices of that ilk have been used in Japan for centuries.  Contrary to some opinions, the Japanese are a modest people. The love poems that were popular prior to the Meiji period often utilized the double entendre (sp?) to convey love and lust without offending the casual reader or listener's sensibilities.


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## Genecks

For what I understand, the Japanese language does use figures of speech and other rhetorical devices.

Rhetorical devices are the things that make language interesting and fun. However, the trick is to know how to employ such things. For what I know, many languages allow for the usage of rhetorical devices.


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## cheshire

Is it only me who feels that the motive of saying there is no "figures of speech" and other rhetorical devices is hinting at the un-enlightened nature of Japanese language and its people?

I can't imagine even a nation with less than 1 million people can do without those useful rhetorical tools.


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