# Z for snoring, and Japan

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/z-for-snoring-and-japan/632315>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [August 22, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/z-for-snoring-and-japan/632315 "2012-08-22T21:44:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/z-for-snoring-and-japan/632315/1 "2012-08-22T21:44:46Z")

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In Cecil’s article at [Why is the letter Z associated with sleep? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3063/why-is-the-letter-z-associated-with-sleep) , when describing how other cultures depict sleep or snoring in print or comics, he writes:

" The Japanese use characters that transliterate as “guu guu,” "

I’ve also heard that it’s a tradition in manga, anime, and Japanese video games, to depict a sleeping character by showing a _bubble of snot_ expanding and contracting from one of his nostrils. (Hopefully not in comics you’ll be reading at the dinner table.)

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**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/z-for-snoring-and-japan/632315/2 "2012-08-22T21:50:43Z")

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> [@tracer](#):
>
> I’ve also heard that it’s a tradition in manga, anime, and Japanese video games, to depict a sleeping character by showing a _bubble of snot_ expanding and contracting from one of his nostrils. (Hopefully not in comics you’ll be reading at the dinner table.)

Yes, that’s true: [TV Tropes on “Snot Bubble”](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SnotBubble).