Translator’s Notes

Welcome back to this latest edition of Weird Trivia. I’m Zihan, the translator for Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke! I’d like to share some background about some of the more obscure terms we had to localize, so let’s jump right into it!

Prologue: A Mysterious Power

Bou ni furu (“to swing onto a pole”)

In the prologue, Shuya comments on how he had wasted a once-in-a-lifetime chance to probe into the empire’s plans while he was in Huzak. Here, he uses the phrase bou ni furu (“to swing onto a pole”) to describe someone losing everything they amassed or wasting an opportunity right before them.

In the Edo period, many street merchants didn’t have a fixed shop location and instead chose to carry their goods around on a tenbinbou, a carrying pole. Literally translated as a “scale pole” since they resembled a weighing scale, merchants would carry fruits and vegetables in baskets hung from both ends of the pole. This kind of business was referred to as botefuri, which can be roughly translated as “pole swingers.” The complete phrase bou ni furu refers to when these botefuri have sold all the goods on their poles. When everything sold out, they no longer had anything on their hands, and therefore they had lost everything.

There are several theories as to why the saying has such a negative connotation, even though it refers to someone having a successful day of sales. One of them is that this saying alludes to just how little profit these botefuri can earn. Since they carried all their goods on their person, these street merchants didn’t need to invest a lot of money early on to set up a shop. However, this meant that their trade volume was minimal. When these merchants replenished their stock from wholesale stores or producers, they could only buy small amounts, and their suppliers’ wholesale prices were very high. Thus, even if these merchants sold everything they had on hand, they wouldn’t make much profit despite all their hard work. In the end, their efforts bore little fruit and were nearly a waste of time, and the saying bou ni furu came to be.

Kanashibari

When Shuya first sees Dreibach, he froze as if he were paralyzed. The specific word used here is kanashibari, literally “gold binding.” The term has several meanings but most often refers to either sleep paralysis or someone being tied up and unable to move. It is said to have originated from Buddhist terminology, referring to one of the rituals in Vajrayana Buddhism. The deity Acala is said to have a rope that can bind “wicked” gods. The kanashibari no hou ritual borrowed the divine influence of Acala and made enemies and burglars (and, in extension, their worldly desires) completely unable to move as if they had been shackled by invisible chains. In Japan, this term for sleep paralysis is typically associated with ghosts and paranormal activities, and sometimes even aliens! It’s often used in all kinds of horror stories.

Chapter 2: What Must Be Done

Hone wo oru (“to break a bone”)

When Slowe says that dealing with the lich wasn’t a simple matter in the least, he uses a phrase derived from the saying hone wo oru (“to break a bone”). The term is also used in the literal sense. A broken bone is a serious injury that causes a lot of pain and suffering, and thus the term was later used in Japanese to refer to an extremely tedious task, requiring a lot of effort and suffering.

A cock-and-bull story

Slowe says that he thought the idea of the Living Dead and the lich taking down a country all by themselves was one of these. The original term here is mayutsubamono, or a “saliva-to-eyebrow tale.” There is a superstition that if someone rubbed spit on their eyebrow, they could avoid being bewitched by foxes and tanuki (Japanese raccoon dogs) in disguise. In the Edo period, the saying “smear saliva on your eyebrow” became a warning to be cautious of deception. Later on, in the Meiji period, the term’s definition expanded to refer to suspicious things or people as well. Nowadays, it is used to describe things that ought to be treated with caution or that have dubious validity.

Sly foxes

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus calls the Freedom Union merchants a bunch of sly foxes. The term used here is umisen yamasen (“sea one thousand, mountain one thousand”), which negatively refers to cunning people who have become particularly crafty after years of experience. In ancient Chinese folklore, legend says that snakes that have lived a thousand years in the sea and another thousand in the mountains would turn into dragons. This was originally a positive phrase, describing how someone has become praiseworthy after years of experience. However, the meaning slowly twisted over time and began to refer to how a person becomes sly after learning all there is to learn about the world.

Otennba (“tomboy”)

Slowe says that Alicia’s actions can’t be laughed off as too impulsive or acting out on a rebellious spirit, using the word otennba. It is most often used to refer to lively girls who can’t sit still, are very active, and lack modesty and bashfulness, though it can refer to anyone regardless of gender. There are several theories about where this term came from, but the most popular idea is that it comes from the Dutch word ontembaar, which means “untamable” or “indomitable.” While some dispute this theory, there are actually many words in Japanese derived from Dutch. One such example is ponzu sauce, which comes from the Dutch pons (a word no longer in use), which is a punch of a beverage made from fruit juices.

Hurling an eye

Zodd glares hard at Slowe during a confrontation with Shuya. The term used here can literally be translated as “hurling an eye.” It alludes to how someone throws their gaze at someone else with the force of a bullet, not unlike the English phrase “shooting daggers.” This term is actually slang used by delinquent youths in the Kanto region, which shows just what kind of image Slowe has of Zodd!

Everyday occurrence

Slowe says that scuffles between adventurers were an everyday occurrence in Zenelaus. The term used here is nichijou sahanji (“things like everyday tea and food”), and it helps describe something as common as the tea and food that people have every day.

To put someone in their place

Zodd tells Shuya to put Slowe in his place and knock the other youth down a few pegs. The original term used here is a version of hitoawa fukaseru (“to make someone breathe out bubbles/foam”). It means to give someone a nasty surprise and fluster them. The term’s origin is rather nasty; it refers to how a person would foam at the mouth and be in great pain while being strangled.

Interlude: The Oddball Noble

Saji wo nageru (“to toss away the spoon”)

Slowe mentions that even his own family gave up on him. The Japanese term used was saji wo nageru (“to toss away the spoon”), or giving up on something because it’s hopeless. The spoon refers to the medicinal spoons used by doctors in the Edo period to dispense prescriptions. In that era, doctors made their own medicine (instead of relying on pharmacists like today), and most illnesses were treated with these prescriptions. So, this saying refers to when a doctor couldn’t make the right medicine to cure a disease and would throw away their medicinal spoon in frustration, deciding that there was no possible treatment.

Chapter 5: Eldred, the Great Spirit of Fire

Tedama ni toru (“taking someone as one’s beanbag ball”)

The lich led everyone around by the nose, and the term used here was tedama ni toru (“taking someone as one’s beanbag ball”). A tedama is a small beanbag ball toy used in juggling games. The saying comes from how acrobats and jugglers have complete mastery over these balls, toying around as they please, and today implies that someone has full control over someone else.

Final Chapter: The Dungeon City, Zenelaus

Tanuki neiri (“a tanuki falling asleep”)

Nanatrij says that she can easily tell when someone is feigning sleep, and the phrase she uses is tanuki neiri (“a tanuki falling asleep”). Tanuki are easily frightened and can faint when they are surprised. People thought that these tanuki looked as if they were pretending to be asleep to deceive people, which led to this phrase.