# What does this phrase mean
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 13, 2002, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900 "2002-05-13T21:38:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2002, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/1 "2002-05-13T21:38:52Z")
On the 2nd CD of the Guns n’ Roses “Live Years” album set, Axl is talking to the audience and says somethign along the lines of ". . .when you have nothing better to do than commit Harry Carey. . . " I don’t know what that means or if I even spelled it right. A little help?
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2002, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/2 "2002-05-13T21:48:26Z")
‘Hari Kari’ is a Far eastern phrase meaning to commit suicide, usually disembowelling yourself with a ceremonial sword.
Have a nice day!
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### Author:  [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2002, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/3 "2002-05-13T21:50:31Z")
I’ll admit I haven’t heard the CD, but I’d guess he’s talking about Hari Kari, where you disembowel yourself with a sword.
And, according to [Mirriam-Webster](http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=hara-kiri) , “Hari Kari” is a variant of “Hara Kiri”, plus it gives a basic definition as well.
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### Author:  [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2002, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/4 "2002-05-13T21:51:58Z")
Oooh! My second simul-post!
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### Author:  [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/5 "2002-05-13T21:53:38Z")
It’s “hari kari”. It’s a japanese word for the ritual suicide which is the last resort of a defeated samuri.
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2002, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/6 "2002-05-13T22:06:09Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by zweisamkeit \*
> Oooh! My second **simul** -post!
You have done well, young Jedi.
But two minutes is still two minutes. 😃
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2002, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/7 "2002-05-13T22:18:23Z")
My Japanese culture professor in college assured the class that anyone who would actually do this act would refer to it as [suppuku](http://victorian.fortunecity.com/duchamp/410/seppuku.html).
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2002, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/8 "2002-05-13T22:25:47Z")
Maybe the OP was spelling it the right way, and the song writer was idly considering sending a baseball announcer to the insane asylum …
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/9 "2002-05-13T22:51:12Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \*
> suppuku
As the linked page should make obvious, I meant to spell that _seppuku_.
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### Author:  [@Tsubaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tsubaki)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/10 "2002-05-13T23:43:52Z")
The real way of saying it (besides _seppuku_) is _hara kiri_, which literally means “cutting your stomach”. I guess it evolved into _hari kari_ because the rhyming makes it easier to say and remember.
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### Author:  [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/11 "2002-05-14T02:40:03Z")
\
…got the answer, everyone!! It’s **hari-kiri** , and it’s a type of ceremoni–
What?
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/12 "2002-05-14T03:02:30Z")
[http://www.word-detective.com/back-c2.html#hara-kiri](http://www.word-detective.com/back-c2.html#hara-kiri)
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2002, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-phrase-mean/108900/13 "2002-05-14T03:15:47Z")
Or it could mean acting like a certain late Chicago Cubs announcer. (E.g., getting totally sloshed by the 7th inning stretch.)