# Translate Japanese inscription? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 10, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-japanese-inscription/665871 "2013-08-10T14:28:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-japanese-inscription/665871/1 "2013-08-10T14:28:59Z")
I suspect it’s just Japanese for ["Tony the Tiger,’](http://s294.photobucket.com/user/badger60/media/tonytiger_zpsb1847c63.jpg.html) but I was having trouble mapping it to the Japanese syllabary and getting a meaningful pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-japanese-inscription/665871/2 "2013-08-10T15:26:17Z")
It’s katakana, a Japanese syllabary for writing foreign words, usually English. Looks like Koo-n Hu-ro-su-to or Koo-n-hu Ro-su-to. Corn Roast? Roasted Corn? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-japanese-inscription/665871/3 "2013-08-10T15:30:00Z")
Something like that would make sense. Probably the Japanese name for “Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes” or whatever it’s called locally. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-japanese-inscription/665871/4 "2013-08-10T15:31:39Z")
It is the English words “Corn Frost”, transliterated into Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-japanese-inscription/665871/5 "2013-08-10T15:36:07Z")
Ah-so! Domo arigato! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-japanese-inscription/665871/6 "2013-08-10T15:44:27Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > It is the English words “Corn Frost”, transliterated into Japanese. Ah, yes. “F” generally maps to “H”. I can’t believe I forgot that. I was even thinking that it was some form of frosted flakes, too, but it didn’t click. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-japanese-inscription/665871/7 "2013-08-10T15:52:24Z")
It’s an old name for “Frosties” in Japan. Nowadays the same product is called コーンフロスティ　“Corn Frostie”. Edited to add: And “Frosties” is our name for what are called “Frosted Flakes” in America. ---
**Author:** ![Itself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d07c76/32.png) [@Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-japanese-inscription/665871/8 "2013-08-11T22:28:03Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Ah, yes. “F” generally maps to “H”. I can’t believe I forgot that. I was even thinking that it was some form of frosted flakes, too, but it didn’t click. The ‘h’ series is a bit unstable: The ‘h’ in ‘ha’, ‘he’, and ‘ho’ are (more or less) the same ‘h’ as in English, but ‘h’ becomes a voiceless palatal fricative (like the ‘h’ in English ‘huge’) before ‘i’ and a voiceless bilabial fricative before ‘u’, which is pretty close to English ‘f’. Normally that ‘f’ is restricted to an allophone of ‘h’ before ‘u’, but some loan words like ‘firumu’ _film_ use it freely.