Skip to main content
jackass
ˈdʒakas/
noun
jackass
Soon after we climbed into the taxi on our way to Kyoto station, the driver suddenly twisted around to look at us and gruffly ask, “You like Trump?”

Initially surprised, Danny lost not a moment replying, “Jackass!”

Jackass?”

Jackass!”

Our driver was fascinated, hearing an English word, he’d never heard before.  He mulled it over for a few seconds, then quietly asked our Japanese friend, sitting next to him, what does this mean?  Our friend, who speaks English quite well, was at a loss to translate.

The driver kept playing with the sound of the word.  Every few seconds he would say, quite loudly, in a deep baritone voice, “Jackass!”

Danny tried to use his newly installed iphone translation app to find an equivalent word in Japanese. So now, from the backseat, Danny kept shouting into his iphone, “Jackass!”  Danny operates complex electrical devices on the theory that if he just keeps pushing enough buttons, usually with more and more gusto, eventually something will work.

This quickly became a call and response exercise, between the driver in the front seat and Danny in the back. They went back and forth, each repeating the word “Jackass.” Each never lost interest in the word.  Each time Danny didn’t get an answer from his iphone, he’d shout a little louder.When the driver heard Danny shout, the driver used it as a cue to repeat the word, I guess so he’d not forget it, or just because it felt good coming out of his mouth.

By this time, we all began to laugh, but the one word dialogue continued for several more rounds.

At last, the app responded.  Jackass is a borrowed English word, with no Japanese translation. It is pronounced jacka asu.  Our Japanese friend provided the driver with a few Japanese synonyms, so he was able to get the gist of things.

As we left the cab, the driver eagerly told us, “Next time I have American passengers, I tell them !”

We suggested he use discretion.

Dianne Vapnek

In an attempt to slow life's quickening pace, I'm writing to share my personal perspective on the aging process, its dilemmas, the humorous self-deception, the insights and the adventure of it all. I spent the bulk of my time in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA, but manage to get to NYC a few times times a year. I've been a dancer/dance teacher and dance supporter almost all my life. For the past20years, I help create and produce a month-long creative residency in Santa Barbara for contemporary American choreographers and their dancers. It's been incredibly gratifying. This year, I decided it's time to retire! Big change. I also now spend several weeks a year in Kyoto Japan, residing for several weeks in the spring and the fall. I've been magnetically attracted to Japan for many years. Now I live out a dream to live there part-time.

6 Comments

  • Sheri Overall says:

    Thanks for helping to further good foreign relations!!!! Sheri

  • ann starck says:

    Great verbal video and early morning laugh! Ann

  • Judi Wallner says:

    Oh I wish that I’d been a fly on the wall or better yet a fly in the taxi!

  • April Walstad says:

    Too funny!! Had me laughing. Xo. A. Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network. From: notoutyet.comSent: Thursday, March 31, 2016 5:16 PMTo: april@walstadinvest.comReply To: notoutyet.comSubject: [New post] Jack(a)ass!(u)

    a:hover { color: red; } a { text-decoration: none; color: #0088cc; } a.primaryactionlink:link, a.primaryactionlink:visited { background-color: #2585B2; color: #fff; } a.primaryactionlink:hover, a.primaryactionlink:active { background-color: #11729E !important; color: #fff !important; }

    /* @media only screen and (max-device-width: 480px) { .post { min-width: 700px !important; } } */ WordPress.com

    devapnek posted: ”

    jackass

    ˈdʒakas/

    noun

    Soon after we climbed into the taxi on our way to Kyoto station, the driver suddenly twisted around to look at us and gruffly ask, “You like Trump?”

    Initially surprised, Danny lost not a moment replying, “Jackass!”

    “”

  • novaloverro says:

    ha – good one Diane, I wish I had been there.

Discover more from Not Out Yet

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading