Rocking in Hakata » Japanese Tongue Twisters Lesson 2Japanese Tongue Twisters Lesson 2
April 19th, 2009Here’s the second lesson. It’s one that a bunch of commenters have mentioned. It’s still pretty simple, though. I don’t usually say the bus guide part, though, usually. I dunno, I guess I feel bad calling someone ugly. By the way, the “busu” comes from the word “busaiku” (不細工) as far as I know. It means “homely” or “plain.” Not very nice. But when you shorten it into a slang expression, which is then spelled in katakana, it becomes stronger. Hence “ugly.” One thing that’s helpful in saying this one quickly is to remember that the u sound on many words that end in su can be sort of…de-emphasized. (That’s why desu sounds like “dess” sometimes and not “de-soo” all the time.) Be judicious when applying this shortcut, and mimic native speakers to use it properly - but for tongue twisters, I say it’s fair.
Video responses with you attempting this tongue twister are highly encouraged!
Difficulty: Easy
Kanji: バスガス爆発(ブスバスガイド)
Hiragana: ばすがすばくはつ(ぶすばすがいど)
Romaji: Basu-gasu-bakuhatsu (busu-basu-gaido)
Meaning: Bus gasoline explosion (ugly bus guide)
Audio:
