The Japanese strike me as a very creative people, and I’m often amused by the things they bother to come up with names for. Having your significant other sleep while using your arm as a pillow is known as ude-makura (oo-day mah-koo-rah) or “arm pillow,” and the word for “waking up and doing stuff then going back to bed afterwards” is nidone (ni-doh-neh), or “second sleep.” This creativity extends into the realm of English, too, for example the beer I had last night called Asahi Strong Off, a name which perfectly reflected the strong taste and lower calorie content. Some businesses with interesting (if odd-sounding) names include Heartful Life (a home renovation company) and a “used fishing tool shop” called Tackle Berry, which shows a picture of Huckleberry Finn pulling in a fish with his fishing rod as its corporate logo. Very weird, but very creative, too.
There’s nothing like a Strong Off at the end of a hard day’s work.
