Hey there fellow netizens!

So I promised we'll do something fun today!

With all the Deadpool hype lately my sense of fun has dangerously slipped down the inappropriate jokes highway... Don't worry though, we'll keep today's show rated somewhere around PG-13.

Do you guys know the Cards Against Humanity game?

Basically, you have black and white cards.
The black cards have sentences with blanks or questions in them, and the white cards have *ahem* a horrible choice of words to fill in those blanks. This game is designed so that any funny pairing of black and white cards ranges from borderline inappropriate to wildly offensive.

Allow me to exemplify:

Borderline inappropriate:

Aaaand wildly inappropriate:

Some enlightened soul out there decided to translate them into Japanese.
They're called
人倫対戦カードゲ－ム
じんりん　たいせん　かーどげーむ
Cards against humanity
Literally: 'Humanity + waging war (against) + card game'

You can find it here.

Some translations are better than others, with many of them unfortunately being just literal translations that don't convey the meaning, so I would advise against rushing to print out and play them with your Japanese friends, as you'll just end up lost in translation.

But today I made a very select choice of pairings for the hidden Deadpool in all of you. (If you haven't watched the movie, please do. It's awesome.)

Now let's learn some Japanese while making some mildly inappropriate jokes.

First: What keeps me up at night? or...

夜眠れない原因は何ですか。
よる　ねむれない　げんいん　は　なん　です　か。
Why can't (I) sleep at night?
Literally: 'Night + cannot sleep + reason/cause + is + what + です + か'

So, why can't I sleep at night?

Why, of course it's my...

ファザコン
ふぁざこん
Daddy issues
Literally: 'Father + complex'

In Japanese, they shortened the word コンプレックス (complex) into コン.
They also very carefully created shortened words for many other 'issues' one might have. Like:

ロリコン
ろりこん
Lolita complex
Literally: 'Loli (ta) + con (plex)'

シスコン
しすこん
Sister complex
Literally: 'Sis (ter) + con (plex)'

マザコン
まざこん
Mother complex
Literally: 'まざ (mother) + con (plex)'

And last but not least:
ブラコン
ぶらこん
Brother complex
Literally: 'ぶら (from brother) + con (plex)'

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バットマンの罪深い喜びは何？
ばっとまん　の　つみぶかい　よろこび　は　なに？
What is Batman's guilty pleasure?
Literally: 'Batman + の + guilty + pleasure?'

Note: This fancy-looking word '罪深い' can be easily broken down for better understanding into 罪（つみ/sin） +　深い（ふかい/deep）so you get a loose translation of 'deeply sinful' = 'guilty'. Notice that the word 'ふかい' changes into 'ぶかい' for easier pronunciation.

Well it appears that Batman secretly enjoys...

おならをして立ち去る。
おなら　を　して　たちさる。
Farting and then leaving (the room).
Literally: 'Fart + を + make + leave'.

Note: '立ち去る' is used most of the time in writing. The only time you'd use it in spoken language is if you were to narrate something or maybe chant an incantation to dispel demons...

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何がオバマをくつろがせるのに役立つの？
なに　が　おばま　を　くつろがせる　のに　やくだつ　の？
What helps Obama unwind?
Literally: 'What + が + Obama + を + (makes to) unwind + のに + is helpful + の?'
Now a literal translation that is easier to digest:
'What is helpful in making Obama relax/unwind?'

Time for some grammar kids...

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Verb + のに
Verb + in order to/so that + What/how much/when/...

Before we begin, 'のに' means a lot of stuff, but today I'll only teach you the meaning that came up in the sentence above.

You can use it with the meaning of 'How much X would it take in order to Y', where X is either time, money, a certain amount of something, etc..., and Y is the end purpose.

Let's look at a specific example:

電車で行くのにどのぐらいかかった？
でんしゃ　で　いく　のに　どのぐらい　かかった？
How much money did it cost to go by train?
Literally: 'Train + で + go + so that + how much (money) + (did it) take?

Sadly, there is no literal translation to fully convey the meaning of 'のに', but I would dare to associate it with the word 'to', as I think it works pretty well on a semantic level.

I'll give you another example:

チョコを作るのにどんな材料を使いますか。
ちょこ　を　つくる　のに　どんな　ざいりょう　を　つかいます　か。
What kind of ingredients do you use to make chocolate?
Literally: 'Chocolate + を + make + so that + what kind of + ingredients + を + use + か'

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So, back to our game: What makes Obama unwind?
I will offer you three answers, and you can choose your favorite:

1. 食用パンツ
しょくようぱんつ
Edible underwear

Hey! Another fancy-looking word popped-up: '食用/edible'. No worries, let's break it apart: 食（しょく）= food and 用（よう） = use, so we're talking about something that can be used as food = something that's edible.

2. 同性アイスダンス。
どうせいあいすだんす。
Same-sex ice-dancing.

Note: 同性/same-sex breaks quite literally into 同（どう/same）and 性（せい/sex, gender）

Or my favorite:

3. とてもかっこいい帽子。
とても　かっこいい　ぼうし。
A really cool hat.
Literally: 'Very + cool + hat'

So, I hope this lesson helped you unwind as well. Have a nice relaxing day and see you next time!

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This lesson was written by Adriana, a guest contributor.