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A central part of the Lulu and Bobby Jean story arc is the race to eliminate the enemy before Usagi dies from Bags Groove's attack. By the time they reach the hospital, Usagi's condition has worsened severely as Bags Groove reached his brain, compromising his ability to think rationally. Despite this, he makes an MRI machine using his stand, THE MATTEKUDASAI. Speaking of which, do you know what MRI stands for? Jodio certainly doesn't. Some might call him a real idiot; or in this case, only English readers might call him a real idiot. In Japan, its a different case.
Usagi has the tendency to break out into spouting acronyms in his delusional state. This is the same for the Japanese version where he spouts English acronyms (because they are in Hawaii). But the acronyms aren't exactly English per se. This blog post will go over the interesting facts about Usagi's drivel.
This article is based on the Hi Wa Mata Noboru fan translations.
MRI
MRI stands for "magnetic resonance imaging", as it uses magnetism to take pictures of your body's inside. As previously stated, Jodio doesn't know the full name (he got magnetic right). So Usagi helps him out by saying that MRI stands for... "Man's a Real Idiot".
Pretty hilarious, but this line isn't in the Japanese version. In Japanese, he says "無理言ってすみません" (Muri Itte sumimasen). It translates to something around the lines of "Sorry for saying unnatural things".
BFF
BFF seems to be universal as in both Japanese and English translation, Usagi says "Best Friends Forever"
IDD
IDD...doesn't really have a widespread (or in the context of the conversation, suitable) acronym. In the fan translations, it was translated to "I'm Deeply Devoted".
In Japanese, it was written as "いつでも大好き" (Itsudemo Daisuki). It means something like "I'll always love you" (The 'love' here can refer to either platonic and romantic love).
KKD
KKD also doesn't really have a well know acronym. In the fan translations, it was translated to "Kind Kindred Dude".
In Japanese, it was written as "君に感謝だ" (Kimi ni kansha da). It means something like "I am grateful for you"
DNA
In the MRI machine, Usagi's not having a good time. While flailing about, he spouts DNA, saying it stands for "Deoxyribonucleic Acid", which is true.
In Japanese, he also says it's deoxyribonucleic acid. But instead, he uses the Japanese term: "デオキシリボ核酸" (Deokishiribokakusan). This breaks the convention of having the acronyms having words with appropriate starting letters. It gets worse from here.
NDA
Usagi calls NDA "Non Disclosure Agreement" in both English translation and Japanese. But for Japanese, he calls it the Japanese term too: "秘密保持契約" (Himitsubojikeiyaku). This has even less similarity to the English acronym. But afterwards, he apologizes for saying unnatural things.
MFF
In the MRI, Usagi says, in both Japanese and English, MFF as "My Friend Forever".
All of them
| Acronyms | English | Japanese
|
|---|---|---|
| MRI | "Man's a Real Idiot" | Muri Itte sumimasen |
| BFF | "Best Friends Forever" | "Best Friends Forever" |
| IDD | "I'm Deeply Devoted" | Itsudemo Daisuki |
| KKD | "Kind Kindred Dude" | Kimi ni kansha da |
| DNA | "Deoxyribonucleic Acid" | Deokishiribokakusan |
| NDA | "Non Disclosure Agreement" | Himitsubojikeiyaku |
| MFF | "My Friend Forever" | "My Friend Forever" |
Overall, if there's one thing I have to say, it's that I give massive props to the translators and Araki for their creativity in these acronyms. It takes a lot of wordplay to work out suitable acronyms, especially across language barriers. If there was a second thing I have to say, it's the question of if Usagi is bilingual.
