How Did “Octopus” Become a Japanese Insult?
Did someone just call you an “octopus”? How “tako” became both a fish and an insult in Japanese (spoiler alert: it involves samurai).
There’s a misconception that Japanese is a “gentle” language without a lot of insults and swear words. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are myriad ways to bring someone low in the language.
One of them — “tako” — might sound like someone’s calling you a marine animal. In fact, calling someone “tako” goes back to Japan’s Edo era — and, according to one theory, is deeply associated with the era’s feudal hierarchy.
“Tako” as an insult
If you’ve learned a little Japanese, you’ve likely heard “tako” as the word for “octopus”. It is, after all, in one of Japan’s most popular dishes, takoyaki (たこ焼き). Often stylized in hiragana, you may occasionally set sight on its kanji as well (蛸).
But “tako” can also be a general all-purpose insult, meant to call someone an idiot or slow-witted. According to one author, some heterosexual women even have their husbands listed as “tako” in their cell phone address books.
