Are you OK?

Zhaofei Chen recently came across a Japanese bath bucket (湯桶 yuoke) with a big “あ” carved inside. She says that it’s literally called “あゆおけ (ayuoke),” which sounds just like “Are you OK?”, a perfect mix of Japanese and English. Etymology /juwoke/ → /juoke/ From Old Japanese. Compound of 湯 (yu, “warm or hot water”) +‎ 桶 (oke, […]