Re: Japanese DJ Patter

"Jaffo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.j-wave.co.jp/original/switchonny/index.htm?real
>
> You're asking yourself, what could be worse than the contrived
> enthusiasm of America DJs?

"HEYYYYY there!  You're rocking out to the top 40 tunes that hormone-crazed
teenagers CAN'T get enough of!  We're spinnin' the hits while you're poppin'
those zits!  Here comes Helena Handbasket, the commutie cutie, with your
traffic update!"

> That same enthusiasm, presented in Mixed English and Japanese.

Some linguists call it "code switching".  I think code switching is pretty
common anywhere a high-enough percentage of people will understand both
languages.  (Occasionally with non-idiomatic or incomprehensible results
like "Engrish")

Many Japanese pop songs have a sprinkling of English, too.  Sometimes the
songs switch between languages for a line at a time, like in the theme for
The Secret of Blue Water:

   Kokoro no oorugooru ga hiraite 'ku hibiite 'ku
   Sukoshi-zutsu no shiawase yuuki no kanade-dasu no
   Ima kimi no me ni ippai no mirai
   Kotoba wa eien no shigunaru
   DON'T FORGET TO TRY IN MIND
   Ai wa JEWEL yori
   Subete wo kagayakasu

I sang this in an Akihabara karaoke house, and Hajime's cow-orkers were
impressed that a gaijin like myself knew so many 80's anime.  (And by the
way, the joke "The Secret of Blue Water is actually 2000 flushes" has
ALREADY BEEN beaten into the ground)

Often, English words are used as a sort of punctuation at the end of a line.
The band CCB did this a LOT, but I don't have the CD, so here's part of
Moonlight Densetsu (the Sailor Moon opening theme):

   Nakitaku naru you na MOONLIGHT
   Denwa mo dekinai MIDNIGHT

Sometimes the code switching is clever, like in "I, I, You & Ai" from the
first Urusei Yatsura movie.  The first verse is:

   I, I, I, I, Aishiteite mo naze ka
   You, You, You, You, Yuutsu itsumo anata.
   I, I, I, I, Aitai kimochi totemo.
   You, You, You, You, Yuuwaku shichau kitto.

All the lyrics play on the sounds of the English words "you" and I", which
can be used to start many Japanese words (Aitai, Yuuwaku, etc).  I love this
song.  I think it's wonderful wordplay.

But my all-time favorite code-switching song lyric comes from the opening
theme to Pita Ten.  The line is: "I wish hello merci ciao I love you!
Sukoshi furimukaite ne!"  (Or, to be BORING and put it into just one
language: "I wish hello thanks bye I love you!  Turn this way a little!")
That's such a big glorious train-wreck of language.  How can I help but love
it?

Foreign tongues aren't as popular in American pop music, although there is a
rise in the number of people getting kanji tattoos.  They mostly get the
kanji because they "look cool", the tattoos might as well say "KICK ME" for
all that they know.  I knew a girl who had the ideogram SHIN "believe"
tattoed on her right breast.  I thought it was great.  I mean, I'm not a
religious man, but there are some things that I do believe in.

Also, she lived on H Street.  I am not making this up.

> Let's go YANKEEEEEES!

Hey, I kinda like it.  It definitely beats listening to people yell "Yankee
go home".

-- 
  ,,  If I gave my heart...to you                            \  /
W ()  I'd have none and you'd...have two                     (oo)
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| )(\ DID STEPHEN WILL TANNER EAT THE BANANA OF NOT BEING HERE?!?