Odd expression

[Dennis R. Preston]

"Baka" is "fool" and "papa-san" is as Doug's message has it. The
-"tare" is a very interesting suffix. The literal meaning is
"leaking" or "oozing," but it collocates with only a few lexical
items, and is principally used by children to mock a child (as a
"snot-nose" or "pants-wetter"). "Bakatare" is, therefore, a "leaking
fool," literally, but, since the suffix is used in childish, mocking
collocations, one may think of it as a suffix which simply adds
derision. My first reaction would be to translate "Bakatare papa-san"
as "Silly old fart."

dInIs (Puresuton-sensei)



>>  > >I have always heard my father say the phrase "boccatadi papason".
>>>  >He says he heard it often while in the navy during the Korean
>>>  >conflict. It has become a joke among our family, especially
>>>  >because dad can't remember what it means.  He says it something
>>>  >like "crazy dad".
>>
>>Just a guess:
>>
>>"papason" looks like a phonetic spelling of "papa-san", an expression
>>commonly used by Americans in the Far East, used to refer to (I think) an
>>Asian man of relatively advanced years.  If "boccatadi" (a word I don't
>>recognize) happens to be an insulting term for someone's mental state, then
>>"crazy dad" would be a free but probably reasonably accurate translation of
>>"boccatadi papa-san".
>
>Right, I think. This is military pidgin-Japanese, and "Crazy Dad" seems an
>OK gloss.
>
>"Papa-san" is English (probably) "Papa" = "father" + Japanese "-san"
>(something like "Mr."/"Mrs."/etc.), overall meaning "[older] local [East
>Asian] man". This could also be used to mean "pimp", "barkeep", etc. given
>the milieu in which military pidgin is most prevalent. I believe it might
>also be applied humorously to any man by his mistress/girlfriend/wife,
>etc., or by his [younger] friends.
>
>The other part seems to be Japanese "bakatare" which is used like "baka" or
>"bakayarou" to mean "foolish/crazy/stupid [person]": this would be a term
>of abuse like "[You] idiot!" or "[You] asshole!" if cried out in traffic,
>etc., I think. In the combination above it might be humorous-affectionate
>perhaps. "Bakatare" occurs in US (Hawaiian) slang. I don't know the exact
>significance (if any) of the "-tare" suffix; perhaps somebody more familiar
>with Japanese can remark on it? "Baka" is not always offensive; e.g.
>recently I saw "oyabaka" = "parent-crazy" = "doting parent" applied to a
>man who liked to show off numerous photos of his children.
>
>-- Doug Wilson

--
Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic,
      Asian & African Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027
e-mail: preston at msu.edu
phone: (517) 353-9290