Sunday, January 22, 2017

Meaning of sentence


I have some trouble understanding this sentence:



AとかけましてBと解きます。その心はC。




Answer



It's the format of a traditional Japanese joke in the form of a riddle (謎かけ). The wording is kind of fixed and outdated, so you may find it a bit difficult to understand from today's language.



AとかけましてBと解きます。その心はC。

Literally: (I) pose (you) A, and (you) answer B. The clue is... C.
Meaning: What do A and B have in common? It's C.



What goes in C is the punch line and often is a pun on A and B. Sometimes the entire joke is given in monologue, sometimes it's played in Q&A style (the original way): "What is like A?" → "B is." → "Why?" → "Because C."


An example from Wikipedia:



「ミニスカート」とかけて、「結婚式のスピーチ」と解く。その心は「短いほど喜ばれる」
Why is a "mini-skirt" like a "wedding speech"? Because "the shorter (they are), the more are pleased (with them)".



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