What do these say?

January 3, 2011 9:30 AM

My friend brought me back a couple of stickers from Japan, but she neglected to write down what her friends there told her they said. Can any mefites out there tell me what these say so I don't feel like such a newb sticking them on my stuff? http://grab.by/8b2Z http://grab.by/8b3l
posted by aliceinreality to writing & language (8 answers total)

The first one, リア充, is an abbreviation of リアルが充実している, to be satisfied with your real life. (Source: Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans: リア充[riajyu]. That little pink guy is Mona, a 2ch mascot.)

The next one, 猫かぶってます, would basically be "I'm wearing a cat on my head."
posted by shirobara at 9:39 AM on January 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

For the one with the person in a cat costume: The kanji in the upper right reads "neko," which means cat. The hiragana on the right is "kabuttemasu," which seems to translate as "to be wearing," so I suppose "Neko kabuttemasu" means "I'm wearing a cat" or "I'm dressed as a cat." What this is supposed to signify I have no idea.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:41 AM on January 3, 2011

Thanks so much, guys! I'm glad I put the riajyu one on my laptop because I try to live by that idea. =)

As far as wearing a cat on my head, well, maybe that will be an idea I try to live by in 2011.
posted by aliceinreality at 9:43 AM on January 3, 2011

This one says "neko kabuttemasu", which means "I'm a wolf in sheep's clothing", but given the cute context probably means "I may look cute, but don't make me mad."

The other one says "リア充", and is apparently based on Japanese internet slang (circa 2007), and seems to be saying "looking for a real life (not based on the internet)"
posted by KokuRyu at 9:48 AM on January 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

A wolf in sheep's clothing -- sorry for the misleading translation! I'm glad to learn something from it, too.
posted by shirobara at 9:52 AM on January 3, 2011

well, somewhere between "looking for a real life" and "be satisfied with your real life" is a thing about computers and stories, so i guess it's still appropriate for the Powerbook.

the other one makes more sense that way, i think.

thanks for your help! =)
posted by aliceinreality at 9:52 AM on January 3, 2011

"be satisfied with your real life" is actually what I was trying to say and is more accurate.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:43 AM on January 3, 2011

It's a cutely literal take on an idiomatic phrase in Japanese. Literally taken, neko wo kabutteimasu, can mean to wear a cat on your head. The verb kaburu (here in the continuous kabutteimasu), means to wear on the head. But it can also mean to wear on the face in the manner of a mask, which is where the idiom comes in. As KokuRyu points something akin to the english phrase "a wolf in sheeps clothing". It means to wear a cat in the manner of a mask on ones face, to look like docile and sweet-natured, obscuring one's true nature.
posted by ultrabuff at 10:28 PM on January 3, 2011 [1 favorite]