What is the middle Euphemistic Teapot saying, and in what language?
April 1, 2010 11:44 AM   Subscribe

What is the middle Euphemistic Teapot saying, and in what language?

I am asking this anonymously because I am just not man or woman enough to have a question about the Pee Without Noise Stool associated with my otherwise-low-question-count username for nigh unto eternity. But it has really been bothering me. What language is the middle Euphemistic Teapot speaking in this excerpt from the user manual of the Pee Without Noise Stool, and what is he saying (I feel confident about assigning gender in this case)? Coverage of the product has suggested it is from Japan, to my admittedly non-expert eye it looks like the outburst is actually in Hebrew, and I have it on possible authority that it is Hangul. In the event that you know and are less uptight than I am, I thank you for putting this mystery of the ages to rest.
posted by anonymous to Writing & Language (6 answers total)
 
Well it's definitely Japanese katakana, and definitely not Hebrew or hangul (Korean). The sound it's making is kotsun (spelled phonetically with ko-tsu-n), which, to the best of my non-native-speaker knowledge, indicates the bumping or contact made in sitting-peeing.
posted by whatzit at 12:00 PM on April 1, 2010


It's definitely katakana, and it looks like it's exclaiming some sort of "ouch!" noise (or maybe "dammit!") from the little explosive zaps.

But my Japanese isn't nearly good enough to translate that and google translate didn't cover it.
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 12:05 PM on April 1, 2010


That is definitely not hangul.
posted by yeoja at 12:07 PM on April 1, 2010


I'm pretty certain that "kotsun" here is equivalent to "bonk" or "clonk"-- onomatopoeia for two objects colliding.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:23 PM on April 1, 2010


Yeah, it's kotsun ("bonk"), a sound effect which indicates bumping into something.
posted by vorfeed at 12:24 PM on April 1, 2010


koto, kotsun = little clink, like the sound of a glass being put down or a tear gem falling.

From the Japanese onomatopoeia guide.
Very handy for reading manga.
posted by Babblesort at 12:48 PM on April 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


« Older What is a glyph worth?   |   Personal Detective Help Needed. Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.