is a
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
word that in the context of contemporary Japanese internet meme culture and its related slang is commonly used to refer to humorous homophonic reinterpretation, deliberately interpreting words as other similar-sounding words for comedy (similar to a
mondegreen
A mondegreen () is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning. Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song; the listener, being unable to hear a lyric clearly, substitutes w ...
, but done deliberately).
The word is more commonly used for its original, literal meaning.
The slang usage is derived from the long-running "Soramimi Hour" segment on Japanese
comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing
Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
Tamori
, known by his stage name (an anagram of his surname), is a Japanese television celebrity. Known for his trademark dark sunglasses, Tamori is one of the "big three" television comedians in Japan along with Takeshi Kitano (a.k.a. Beat Takeshi ...
's TV program ''
Tamori Club
, known by his stage name (an anagram of his surname), is a Japanese television celebrity. Known for his trademark dark sunglasses, Tamori is one of the "big three" television comedians in Japan along with Takeshi Kitano (a.k.a. Beat Takesh ...
''. Tamori is one of the "big three" television comedians in Japan, and is very influential. The segment, in which he and his co-host watch mini-skits based on submissions from fans, began in 1992.
In modern Japanese internet culture, soramimi also includes videos with subtitles of humorously misinterpreted subtitles, or text transcripts that do the same. Unlike
homophonic translation
Homophonic translation renders a text in one language into a near-homophonic text in another language, usually with no attempt to preserve the original meaning of the text. In one homophonic translation, for example, the English "sat on a wall" i ...
, soramimi can be contained within a single language. An example of "soramimi" humor confined to Japanese can be seen in the song
Kaidoku Funō
, often referred to simply as ''Code Geass'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise (company), Sunrise. It was directed by Gorō Taniguchi and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, with original character des ...
by the rock band
Jinn
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also Romanization of Arabic, romanized as djinn or Anglicization, anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are Invisibility, invisible creatures in early Arabian mytho ...
, in which the lyrics "''tōkankaku, hito no naka de''" ("''feeling of distance, amongst people''"), which are considered hard to make out by Japanese listeners, are intentionally misinterpreted as "''gōkan da, futon no naka de''" ("''it's rape, in a futon''") for comedic reasons.
Soramimi applies to dialogue as well as song lyrics. For example, in the 2004 film ''
Downfall'', when
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
says "''und betrogen worden''", it is misrepresented as "''oppai purun purun''" ("''titty boing boing''").
Soramimi humor was a staple in Japanese message board Flash animation culture from the late 90's to the mid-00s. It later became very popular on
Niconico, a Japanese video-sharing website in which comments are overlaid directly onto the video, synced to specific playback times, allowing for soramimi subtitles to be easily added to any video.
See also
*
Tamori
, known by his stage name (an anagram of his surname), is a Japanese television celebrity. Known for his trademark dark sunglasses, Tamori is one of the "big three" television comedians in Japan along with Takeshi Kitano (a.k.a. Beat Takeshi ...
*
Tamori Club
, known by his stage name (an anagram of his surname), is a Japanese television celebrity. Known for his trademark dark sunglasses, Tamori is one of the "big three" television comedians in Japan along with Takeshi Kitano (a.k.a. Beat Takesh ...
*
Mondegreen
A mondegreen () is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning. Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song; the listener, being unable to hear a lyric clearly, substitutes w ...
– mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a different meaning
*
Homophonic translation
Homophonic translation renders a text in one language into a near-homophonic text in another language, usually with no attempt to preserve the original meaning of the text. In one homophonic translation, for example, the English "sat on a wall" i ...
– where a text in one language is translated into a near-homophonic text in another language, with no attempt to preserve the original meaning.
References
{{Reflist
External links
A list of past soramimi featured on "Soramimi Hour" (in Japanese)
Japanese words and phrases
Phonology
Lyrics
Homophonic translation