Longstanding Mystery Is Cleared Up
Just had to share this piece of trivia-
When I was talking with a Japanese friend today, the oddly-named Japanese band "Bump of Chicken" came up as a topic of conversation. She explained that to a Japanese person, this name doesn't suggest goosebumps or chicken skin as it does to an English speaker, but rather an entirely different idea - that a coward, or person in a weak position (the "chicken") gets tired of receiving abuse, and lashes out against the attacker ("bump" in this case being, not the noun "bump", but a shock or jolt "bump", bumping into something). Therefore, a more appropriate way to express this idea might be "The Chicken Fights Back". If the band was named that, it would be a little easier to understand. As it stands, it is one of the most horrible examples of misused English I've ever heard.
I went home and checked Wikipedia, which confirmed her explanation of the band name. In Japanese, it would be something like 「弱者の反撃」or「臆病者の一撃」, not 鳥肌.
When I was talking with a Japanese friend today, the oddly-named Japanese band "Bump of Chicken" came up as a topic of conversation. She explained that to a Japanese person, this name doesn't suggest goosebumps or chicken skin as it does to an English speaker, but rather an entirely different idea - that a coward, or person in a weak position (the "chicken") gets tired of receiving abuse, and lashes out against the attacker ("bump" in this case being, not the noun "bump", but a shock or jolt "bump", bumping into something). Therefore, a more appropriate way to express this idea might be "The Chicken Fights Back". If the band was named that, it would be a little easier to understand. As it stands, it is one of the most horrible examples of misused English I've ever heard.
I went home and checked Wikipedia, which confirmed her explanation of the band name. In Japanese, it would be something like 「弱者の反撃」or「臆病者の一撃」, not 鳥肌.