avocado

I found this mug, lovely! I want it. I found this seat for men, ha ha ha, it looks comfortable for you?

Yesterday, Sayoko Yamaguchi passed away. She was one of the first supermodels who were chosen to be the 20 best models in the world. They said her thin almond shaped eyes and black straight hair were so exotic. She also gave Japanese women new confidence in their beauty as Asians. Anna Sui wrote about a Sayoko mannequin that was designed in 1977. I read there were many Sayoko mannequins in NY in those days. May her soul rest in peace.

Avocado. I like it. I like to eat it with soy sauce and wasabi. Thinking of California rolls, my way to eat is a sort of avocado sashimi. By the way, do you know many Japanese think the black fruit name is avoGado. Nifty Portal Z counted "voCado" and "avoGado" in supermarkets in Tokyo. (an avocado cost 198yen (around $2 USD) in this country? Yes it is). Wow! Still many shops wrote it in an incorrect way. This is not the case we know the correct pronounciation but can't do it like "we can't say Avril Lavigne". We mistunderstand the name is avoGado. Okay, I will check google images in avoGado in Japanese. Here are results. Wow a lot!! Actually avocado is hard to pronouce for Japanese, avogado may become a household word in this country.

Comments

[Esther]

That's funny! Abogado is the Spanish word for "lawyer!" They must have a lot of laywers in California. In Spanish, the word for avocado is "aguacate." I remember from my Spanish class in college that it's derived from a native South American (Nahuatl language) word meaning testicle tree. How funny that you have the men's chair and the testicle fruit in the same post. :)

[Mike]

Actually if one looks at how spanish-speakers pronounce "avocado," I think you'll find that the transliteration to アボガド(abogado) is closer to the original language.

Just a thought.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avocado

[Greg]

Mari,

I was going to write something about the problem Japanese people have pronouncing "avocado," but Jenn and bshock pretty much covered it all.

I hope your 憂さ晴らし drinking night was enjoyable. I don't have the luxury of being able to go out drinking during the work week. I have to get up too early and my job doesn't allow for hangovers :)

I just checked the Tokyo weather forecast. Nice to see you've finally gotten a break from the heat.

[Heidi]

"...a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet." (Shakespeare)

"...and an avocado by any other pronunciation is still as guacala!" (Spanish for gross/distgusting? - me ;))

I don't particularly care for the slimy, green, lumpy skinned little buggers - they remind me too much of toads (hikigaeru Nihongo de?) and I certainly don't wanna eat one of those! You can have mine ;)

As far as Nihonjin and "correct" pronuncitaion of avacado, if that's how it is pronounced in Japan and everyone over there understands it - mondanaitesu ne ^-^

Heck, I've yet to meet an American who can pronounce "tsunami" correctly (Nihongo) - over here it is usually pronounced "soonamee" (or called a tidal wave) but we all know what one is...

[bshock]

"Avocado" to "avogado" makes a certain sense if compared to trends in Japanese pronunciation. When consonants are buried within a word, particularly when those consonants might begin a second Kanji character, the sound drifts or "softens."

For instance, a common word like "shimpai" (心配) is made up of characters that would be pronounced separately as "shin" and "hai" -- "h" becomes "p." "Makizushi" (巻き寿司) would be a combination of "maki" (to roll) and "sushi" -- "s" becomes "z."

In the case of "avocado," "c" (phonetically "k") is softened to "g."

[Jenn]

Actually the main use of avocado among Westerners has to be making guacamole. I've never heard of spreading avocado on bread. Sometimes we put slices on sandwiches or burgers, and that's usually considered "California-style." Avocado is quite popular in California, hence the California roll.

And actually most people here pronounce it a-va-ka-do instead of a-vo-ka-do.

Why is KA harder to pronounce than GA for Japanese? They are both mora... I understand a-bo-ka-do but not a-bo-ga-do...

[Sutanai]

I love Avocado too, it is composed of nutrients. Some people say, there is too many fats in Avocado, but I guess they are healthy fat. And we can enjoy it from time to time.

I always had seen 100 yen Avocado, when I was in Japan (but not in Tokyo). In Bangkok, mostly Avocado is imported from Austria since Thailand signed a free trade agreement with the country (and we have also signed it with Japan). So many Austria made food gushed out to Thai market since the agreement completed. Anyway, I have found that Avocado is still expensive! Sometime the price is over 198 yen!

Parenthetically, it is seems westerner like to spread Avocado on breads.
Eating Avocado with Shoyu and Wasabi is pretty nice; it is a Japanese way to eat Avocado I guess (I saw it before).

I like to put it on salad with favourite dressings, or roll it up with Japanese rice and seaweed – Avocado Sushi.

There are actually many species of Avocado, but I don’t know how different it is.

[Marco Bresciani]

Hello Mari, pity we haven't met. :-( I'm back in Italy now.
I've found that with my Italian phone I receive very bad Japanese phone calls: I cannot understand anything... too many disturbing signals and noise and so. :-(

Nice seat for men! ;-)