More Off

December 11th, 2010

“Off” is perhaps one of the most intentionally abused prepositions in Japanese English. “Big Off,” “Off Sale,” “Hard Off,” etc. Here’s another one:

Strongoff

Categories: Focus on Japan 2010, The Lighter Side Tags: by
  1. Troy
    December 11th, 2010 at 04:34 | #1
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    +33% the alcohol of the regular stuff.

    1pp More than Colt .45.

    That’ll put you away.

    I think I drank less alcohol in the 90s in Japan than anyone else there, including the Mormon missionaries. Never more than two beers in one sitting : )

  2. Luis
    December 11th, 2010 at 09:13 | #2
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    Well, 7% will do that to you. That’s as high as I ever see it go in Japan, usually with special seasonal beers. Normal here is 4.5%.

    And if you only had a max of two beers per sitting, then you probably did not go izakaya-ing with co-workers much. :-)

  3. Troy
    December 11th, 2010 at 11:05 | #3
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    I did, but I nursed the beers. Oh for a visit to Tengu again. I need to move back!

    But seeing this does remind me of one of the difficulties of living in Japan — not being able to read what the products were.

    I eventually bit the bullet and pounded in the meanings of the Jōyō kanji in 1993, so I can now read the “Sugar Quality” kanji as “Carbs”, but I suspect I’m still pretty useless about being able to read cooking instructions etc.

  4. Ken sensei
    December 13th, 2010 at 14:23 | #4
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    I suspect I’m still pretty useless about being able to read cooking instructions etc.

    Haha! Cooking instructions are the only thing I “can” read. It’s all about guessing from the context. If you already know sth about the dish you wanna cook, just use your knowledge to fill in the gaps in language.

    Just FYI: you know, a lot of traditional Japanese sauces (e.g., teriyaki) are based on three basic ingredients: sugar, sake, & soy sauce.

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