-
Bukkake udon gets a new name in the U.S.A. from Marugame Udon
投稿日 2021年6月3日 01:00:16 (ニュース)
-
続・お知らせ。海外セレブゴシップ&ニュース
-
お知らせ
-
We spot the legendary dekotora Aki Kannon, dedicated to actress and singer Aki Yashiro
-
New Pokémon GU collaboration dresses all the family, including babies for the first time
-
How do European Cup Noodles taste to a Japanese palate?
-
We’ve been doing it wrong – Japanese genius shows us how we should all be making sandwiches【Pics】
-
The future is now with full face sunglasses
-
Natto-infused ramen is a thing — we tried it, we love it【Taste test】
-
Jellyfish and Halloween in perfect harmony at Sumida Aquarium event
-
Japanese toilet paper collection opens our minds as we open our butts
-
Aomori police on the lookout for man shouting unsolicited advice at kids about dating and ramen
-
Former Arashi members Sho Sakurai and Masaki Aiba get married… Wait, that didn’t come out right
-
Creator of Japan’s longest-running manga, Golgo 13, passes away, leaves fans one last gift
-
Crazy cheap cosplay at Daiso? How to transform into Dragon Ball’s Vegeta at the discount shop
-
7 Halloween-themed afternoon teas you won’t want to miss this year
-
Krispy Kreme Japan creates doughnut burgers that are a meal and two desserts all in one【Photos】
-
Get in the damn drift car, Shinji? Evangelion Tomika toy brings D1 machine home in miniature form
-
Demon Slayer Nichiren Blades ready for new duty: Slicing through your sweets as dessert knives
-
Man in Japan arrested for breaking into ex-girlfriend’s apartment to steal her Nintendo Switch
-
The Japanese Internet chooses the top too-sexy-for-their-own-good male voices in anime
-
First-ever Studio Ghibli x Russell Athletic range pays homage to My Neighbour Totoro
-
Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan announces first expansion with new Donkey Kong area
-
Cup Noodle pouch satisfies our never-ending need for instant ramen
-
Retro Japanese train is our new favourite office space
-
How do Japanese fans feel about Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop opening sequence?
-
We try Uniqlo coffee at first-ever cafe inside Ginza flagship store
-
The number of elderly people in Japan this year has yet again smashed multiple records
-
Mr. Sato broadens his home drinking horizons at Kaldi【Japan’s Best Home Senbero】
-
We try Japanese Twitter’s newest trend the Penguin Egg, end up hatching something very disturbing
-
Takoyaki makers surprisingly good at grilling meat for yakiniku too
Sponsored Link
Traditional Japanese noodle dish now has a codeword-style moniker.
When Japanese noodle chain Marugame Udon first expanded to the U.S., they made a linguistic adaptation in hopes of better blending in. “Marugame” is a four-syllable word, pronounced “Ma-ru-ga-me,” but the company was worried that English speakers, used to seeing the word “game” (as in “let’s play a game”), would turn the restaurant’s name into the three-syllable “Ma-ru-game.”
So for its first branch in Honolulu, Hawaii, the restaurant called itself Marukame Udon instead. However, by the time the chain was ready to hit the west coast of the continental United States, management had changed its mind again, and so its U.S. restaurants outside of Hawaii now use the original Marugame Udon name.
However, that’s not to say Marugame America has a blanket commitment to original source-language fidelity. Take a look at its menus, for example, and you’ll see something called B.K. udon.
Walk into any Marugame branch in Japan and ask for “B.K. udon,” and the staff won’t know what you’re talking about. However, you can definitely get B.K. udon in Japan, and not just at Marugame, but plenty of other udon chains too. That’s because what Marugame America calls “B.K. udon” goes by another name in Japan: bukkake udon.
“So why the rename?” you, in your innocent purity, of coure, ask? Well, bukkake is a Japanese word that means “splash,” and in the context of udon it’s used to describe a style where a comparatively small amount of broth is splashed over the noodles after they’re placed in the bowl. However, bukkake has also evolved into a slang term for a man ejaculating onto a woman’s face or body, a recurring fetish in Japanese adult videos.
▼ Maybe this guys is looking at noodle joint menus, and maybe he’s looking at something else.
Sponsored Link
Since the Japanese language needed a word for “splash” long before it needed one for “bust a nut on a chick’s cheek,” the innocent meaning is the primary one, and when most Japanese people hear “bukkake udon” their reaction is one of culinary hunger, not carnal desire (most of the time, anyway). However, many non-Japanese speakers overseas were exposed to “bukkake” as a genre of porn long before they knew it was a kind of noodle dish, which is probably why Marugame America has decided to go with “B.K.”
▼ Linguists will be happy to know that Marugame America’s menu does retain several Japanese-language terms, like “nikutama” (literally “meat and egg”), which the chain serves with “B.K. sauce.”
アメリカの丸亀製麺のメニューを確認していて気付いたのだが、「Bukkake」は日本以上にアメリカでアレな単語のためB.K.という隠語めいた名前に置き換えられていた。https://t.co/xwidVqODmJ pic.twitter.com/30654oUqL3
— inuro (@inuro) June 2, 2021
The change was pointed out by Twitter user @inuro, with one commenter recalling that the bukkake udon name was still in use at Marugame’s Sawtelle (Los Angeles) branch up to at least a year ago. Maybe one day they’ll change it back again, but for now only those in the know will understand what B.K. stands for, and why a stand-in is being used.
Related: Marugame America
Source: Marugame Udon via Twitter/@inuro via Otakomu
Top image ©SoraNews24
Insert images: Marugame Udon, Pakutaso
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Source: SORA NEWS24
Sponsored Link
最新情報