駄洒落（だじゃれ） — dajare

Contents

Meaning

駄洒落 (だじゃれ, dajare) is a Japanese pun or wordplay that exploits words or phrases that sound similar or identical but have different meanings.

The word itself breaks down as:

駄 (da) — meaning “poor quality” or “trivial”
洒落 (share) — meaning “wit” or “wordplay”

So literally, it’s a “cheap joke” or “low-grade witticism.”

How it works:

Japanese has many homophones (words that sound the same but mean different things), which makes the language especially fertile ground for puns. A dajare typically sets up a situation where a word or phrase can be interpreted in two different ways — one expected, one absurd or funny.

Classic example:

「布団が吹っ飛んだ」 Futon ga futtonda “The futon flew away”

This is funny because futon (布団) sounds like futto (吹っ) — the pun plays on the near-identical sounds of futon and futto-n (blew away).

Cultural note:

In Japan, dajare are strongly associated with middle-aged men (おじさん, ojisan), so much so that corny puns are sometimes called “ojisan gag” (おじさんギャグ). Groaning at a bad pun is a very common reaction — similar to an English “dad joke.”

In English, the closest equivalent is a “pun” or “dad joke.”

Example sentences

駄洒落20例、英訳付きでどうぞ！

🎌 駄洒落 20選

#	駄洒落	読み方	英訳・解説
1	布団が吹っ飛んだ	ふとんがふっとんだ	“The futon flew away!” — futon sounds like futto-n-da (blew away)
2	アルミ缶の上にあるみかん	アルミかんのうえにあるみかん	“A mandarin orange sitting on top of an aluminum can” — arumi kan / aru mikan sound alike
3	犬を連れてイヌイットへ行く	いぬをつれてイヌイットへいく	“Taking my dog to visit the Inuit” — inu (dog) hidden in Inuitto (Inuit)
4	納豆は食べなっとう	なっとうはたべなっとう	“You gotta eat natto!” — natto sounds like natto (must/gotta)
5	庭には二羽、鶏がいる	にわにはにわ、にわとりがいる	“In the garden, there are two birds, chickens” — niwa (garden), niwa (two birds), niwatori (chicken)
6	電話をかけてもかけなくてもカエル	でんわをかけてもかけなくてもかえる	“Whether you call or not, you’ll return home (or turn into a frog)” — kaeru means both
7	牛が来た、ウシ来た	うしがきた、うしきた	“The cow came from the north!” — ushi (cow) + kita (came/north) = Ushikita
8	カレーを食べたら辛かった	カレーをたべたらからかった	“I ate curry and it was spicy” — kara in karee echoes karakatta (was spicy)
9	お前はもうシンデいる	おまえはもうシンデいる	“You are already dead” — shinde (dying) sounds like Shindeiru (is dead), a famous anime reference pun
10	聞くだけ聞いてみな、キクな	きくだけきいてみな、キクな	“Just try asking — but don’t ask the chrysanthemum!” — kiku means both “to ask” and “chrysanthemum”
11	寿司を食べるのは粋だ	すしをたべるのはいきだ	“Eating sushi is stylish” — su in sushi echoes sui (stylish/chic)
12	熊が来ても怖くない、クマなく対処する	くまがきてもこわくない、くまなくたいしょする	“Even if a bear comes, I’ll handle it thoroughly” — kuma (bear) / kumanaku (thoroughly)
13	掃除をしたら気持ちもスッキリ、ソウじゃない？	そうじをしたらきもちもすっきり、そうじゃない？	“After cleaning, you feel refreshed — isn’t that so?” — souji (cleaning) / sou ja nai (isn’t that so)
14	パンツが好きな人はパンツが好き	パンツがすきなひとはパンツがすき	“A person who likes bread likes bread” — pan (bread) + -tsu suffix pun on pantsu (underwear)
15	歯医者に行くのは勇気がいる	はいしゃにいくのはゆうきがいる	“It takes courage to go to the dentist” — iru means both “to need” and “to exist”; haisha (dentist) / hai (yes)
16	蚊に刺されて書く気になれない	かにさされてかくきになれない	“I got bitten by a mosquito and can’t feel like writing” — ka (mosquito) / kaku ki (motivation to write)
17	特急列車に乗るのは特急に決めた	とっきゅうれっしゃにのるのはとっきゅうにきめた	“I quickly decided to take the limited express train” — tokkyuu (limited express) / tokkyuu ni (quickly)
18	このバスはバス停に止まらないバス	このバスはバスていにとまらないバス	“This bus doesn’t stop at bus stops” — basu repeated, playing on the absurdity
19	怒ったらおこづかいが減った	おこったらおこづかいがへった	“When I got angry, my allowance decreased” — oko in okotta (got angry) echoes okozukai (allowance)
20	階段を駆け下りたら、段違いだった	かいだんをかけおりたら、だんちがいだった	“When I ran down the stairs, it was on a completely different level” — kaidan (stairs) / dan chigai (different level/league)

日本語の駄洒落は同音異義語が多いため、英語に完全に訳すのが難しいものも多いです。英語では “pun” や “dad joke” が一番近い表現です！