A visiting librarian from Japan came to our department today for a brief tour and discussion. While she was here, I got a confirmation on something that a friend had told me long ago.
It's true: "Ben" means "poop" in Japanese.
She took it all in stride, and I doubt she would have commented on it if I hadn't mentioned it first. However, she admitted that she initially expected me to look more Asian since "Ide" (pronounced "ee-day") is a fairly popular surname in Japan.
After the tour, we sat at my desk while she asked me a few more questions. She kept looking over my shoulder at my computer screen, and it wasn't until she was about to leave that she laughingly said why.
I had completely forgotten that, months ago, I'd changed the scrolling banner of my screen saver to say:
オタク
Which is Japanese for "geek" or "fan boy".
I'm so embarrassed.
1 comment:
It's just three Japanese charaters that spell out "otaku".
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