Fun with Japanese

A little while ago I posted about our Japanese lessons.  That was just a (slightly boring) introduction so I could attempt to explain some of the more entertaining bits of Japanese I've learned.   Here are my current most favorite examples:

There is a lot of onomatopoeia in Japanese. The other day I learned the verb "to microwave".  It's "chinmasu" [cheen-mas].  "Masu" is just the standard ending to every Japanese verb so for the purposes of this example you can ignore it.  It's the "chin" that's important.  Where did it come from?  Well, what sound does the microwave make when it's done?   Or rather what's the Japanese interpretation?  You got it.....  "CHEEN!"  

Our teacher taught us a slang way to say "I'm hungry".  You say "peko peko desu" [peck-o peck-o des].  You know the pump dispensers that ketchup is in at Fuddrucker's and Wendy's?  Think about the sound one of those makes when you pump it and it's empty.  Japanese people interpret the empty dispenser sound as "peck-o peck-o" (say it out loud, it's pretty accurate).  As in, I'm still hungry, because this food dispenser is empty. (I think this may be regional slang.) 

And my favorite.....I learned a few different words for "husband" before we came.  But since our current Japanese teacher thinks it's hilarious to teach us to argue with one another in Japanese she taught me a new one, "teishu" [tay-shoe] which is what you call your husband when you're mad at him.  There is even a particular saying in which you use this version which is roughly....."Teishu wa genki de rusugai."  It technically translates as "My husband is healthy, but away."  I think a more accurate translation would be "I'm not mad enough to wish him dead, but it's a good thing the jerk isn't around right now.".  ;D