Did Gohan really call Buu a retard?

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Did Gohan really call Buu a retard?

Post by DSB » Sat Sep 11, 2021 3:33 am

Translated manga said slowpoke.

What was the correct japanese word used in the scene and what would it mean?

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Re: Did Gohan really call Buu a retard?

Post by Soppa Saia People » Sat Sep 11, 2021 5:21 am

herms slightly talked about it here. not sure what they went with for the kai subs, iirc it was something like Ignoramus lol.
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Re: Did Gohan really call Buu a retard?

Post by PurestEvil » Sat Sep 11, 2021 9:57 am

AFAIK, うすのろ means “half-wit”, which is a little less harsh than but similar to “retard”.
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Re: Did Gohan really call Buu a retard?

Post by linkdude20002001 » Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:33 pm

It's worth mentioning that at the time of translation, you couldn't go ten minutes without hearing 'retard' in high school. It wasn't 'The R Word' then like it is now. But due to the use as an insult, it eventually became insulting to refer to a 'retarded person' as such, so now it's avoided in lieu of...uh, I don't know actually. 'Mentally challenged'? I dunno. Sounds worse to me. But I digress...

It's also supposed to be shockingly rude and cocky for Gohan. The people around him were shocked from how unexpected and out-of-character that remark was. It was also meant to royally piss of Boo.

It was a fitting translation for the time. However, he doesn't refer to mental retardation in the Japanese version. There are words for that in Japanese, but I believe they're considered to be 'bad words'. Not in the way 'shit' is ridiculously considered 'bad', but as in an actually bad thing to say. The word in Japanese means 'half-wit', 'fool' or 'simpleton'.
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Re: Did Gohan really call Buu a retard?

Post by nickzambuto » Fri Nov 05, 2021 1:51 am

This moment in the series has puzzled my mind for many years and I don't think I'll ever understand.

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Re: Did Gohan really call Buu a retard?

Post by coola » Fri Nov 05, 2021 9:18 am

In Polish manga edition (from 2003) he called Buu trash/scumbag, like SSJ Goku called Freeza :)
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Re: Did Gohan really call Buu a retard?

Post by VegettoEX » Fri Nov 05, 2021 9:40 am

In addition to the link to Jake's explanation above, I would also suggest up Julian's in-depth explanation from a podcast we did last year for some good context:

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Re: Did Gohan really call Buu a retard?

Post by Adamant » Fri Nov 05, 2021 11:53 pm

linkdude20002001 wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:33 pm It was a fitting translation for the time. However, he doesn't refer to mental retardation in the Japanese version. There are words for that in Japanese, but I believe they're considered to be 'bad words'. Not in the way 'shit' is ridiculously considered 'bad', but as in an actually bad thing to say. The word in Japanese means 'half-wit', 'fool' or 'simpleton'.
The Japanese word for mentally retarded is 精薄, which uses the same kanji we find in 薄鈍. And 薄 on its own just has a completely neutral meaning of thin, dim, insufficient etc that we find in a ton of common words.

So... well no, not really. 薄鈍 is an insult because 薄 relates to the word 精薄, just like calling someone a retard in English is an insult because it relates to the phrase "mentally retarded". Not because 薄 and "retard" on their own have inherently negative meanings.
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