cheeky – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today. Thu, 28 Mar 2024 04:30:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/05/en_rocket_1024.png?w=32 cheeky – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com 32 32 176746664 【Noodle Theft】 Petty Thief Shows Us Where the Line Between “Gutsy” and “Idiotic” Lies https://soranews24.com/2012/10/04/%e3%80%90noodle-theft%e3%80%91-petty-thief-shows-us-where-the-line-between-gutsy-and-idiotic-lies/ https://soranews24.com/2012/10/04/%e3%80%90noodle-theft%e3%80%91-petty-thief-shows-us-where-the-line-between-gutsy-and-idiotic-lies/#comments Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:00:42 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=21339
When I was a kid, there was a period of about a week in school when everyone became obsessed with making “jokes” using “What’s the definition of…?” set-ups.
As well as failing to make anyone laugh, they rarely made much sense and were always both immensely long-winded and contrived…
Allow me to share an example:
“What’s the definition of ’cheeky’? Throwing a brick through someone’s window, then knocking on the door and asking for it back!”
Oh my sides….
Thankfully, though, a 16-year-old in Wakayama prefecture, Japan has done us all a favour and made an example of himself, putting an end to the eternal mystery “what’s the definition of ‘stupidity’?”
On October 2, the unemployed youth allegedly strode into one of his local convenience stores (a 7-Eleven, no doubt…), and helped himself to a cup noodle, costing exactly 248 yen (about three US dollars).
Ignoring the fact that the item he stole probably had the least nutritional value of all the food in the store, it seems that our master criminal had entirely forgotten that he would require one more vital ingredient in order enjoy his stolen snack- hot water.
Just minutes after stealing the noodles, the young man returned to the very same convenience store and proceeded to help himself to hot water from one of the large thermos flasks positioned near the register for (non-thieving) customers use.
After filling up his cup of rāmen noodles, the young man then sat outside the convenience store and leisurely enjoyed his evening meal.
The convenience store owner, having suspected that he had stolen the noodles earlier, managed to detain the youth until the police arrived, at which point the boy was probably slapped across the back of the head and given the award for worst criminal ever…
Stupid crime does not pay, kids..
Source: Yomiuri Online
]]> https://soranews24.com/2012/10/04/%e3%80%90noodle-theft%e3%80%91-petty-thief-shows-us-where-the-line-between-gutsy-and-idiotic-lies/feed/ 0 21339 “A Computer Thinner than a ¥1 Coin!!!” Toshiba’s Way with Words Raises Eyebrows Across the Internet https://soranews24.com/2012/09/23/a-computer-thinner-than-a-%c2%a51-coin-toshibas-way-with-words-raises-eyebrows-across-the-internet/ https://soranews24.com/2012/09/23/a-computer-thinner-than-a-%c2%a51-coin-toshibas-way-with-words-raises-eyebrows-across-the-internet/#comments Sun, 23 Sep 2012 13:30:49 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=19500 
Picture the scene- a businessman walks on to the set of reality TV show Dragon’s Den (which, would you believe, originated in Japan as Manē no Tora?). He sets a briefcase down on a black leather stool, adjusts his necktie and, staring the affluent entrepreneurs straight in the eye, confidently proclaims:
“Dragons, I am here today to present to you a marvel of modern technology. The pinnacle of human engineering. Never before has humankind witnessed such a feat of industry. I am about to present to you… a notebook computer thinner than a single one yen coin!”
The dragons look at one-another in awed silence. All five of them lean forward in their seats.
“Thinner than a coin?? That’s incredible!” splutters one of the millionaires, his hungry eyes flashing.
The businessman clears his throat, the confidence suddenly draining from his voice quicker than the blood from his face.
“Well…” he stutters, “when I say ‘thinner than a one yen coin;’ I mean… if, you know, you stand the coin up on its edge.” <cough>
The dragons laugh; the businessman breaks into a sweat, has an asthma attack, and promptly leaves.
Japanese electronics giant Toshiba Corporation is that unfortunate businessman.
Already making headlines on internet forums and tech websites, Toshiba’s advertising campaign, heralding the arrival of a new laptop computer “as thin as a one yen coin!” has been met with jibes and laughter as, it turns out, the company meant “a computer as thin as a one yen coin is tall”.
Photos of the ad, taken from the top page of the company’s own e-zine, surfaced late last week, and were promptly met with responses ranging from “hilarious” to “what trickery is this, wizard?”
It would seem that, to most people’s minds, the concept of “as thin as a single coin” conjures images of a coin lying flat, rather than being stood on its edge. Suggesting that something is “as thin as a sheet of paper”, then revealing that the paper has first to be balanced on its side, thus measuring about six inches in height, might garner a similar response…
Let’s take a look at some of the commenters’ highlights in response to Toshiba’s “thinner than a one yen coin” claim:
“Yikes; I didn’t see that one coming…”
“Oooh, you mean standing up thin?? Oh, OK…”
“Hey now; not so fast there…”
“I don’t think I could possibly feel any more swindled, haha”
“Oh, you sly fox, you!”
“I don’t think you’re quite understanding the expression, guys…”
“Haha, no that’s not quite right!”
“Come on, now, don’t take the piss…”
If we’re talking about “thinness”, it would be perfectly natural to expect to discuss the two objects being compared in terms of their relative thinness, not the thinness of one and the height of another. If we’re going to start mixing things up- “Jeff is as tall as a London bus, once laid on its side…”, for example- things might get a little confusing!
But let’s forgive Toshiba for this piece of cheeky advertising. A computer being thinner than-a-one-yen-coin-is-taller-when-stood-on-its-edge <phew> is still pretty slim, after all.
That being said, upon comparing our own RocketNews24 team’s laptops to a one yen coin, it would seem that some other companies, Samsung (top) and Sony (bottom) may have already beaten Toshiba to the punch…
]]> https://soranews24.com/2012/09/23/a-computer-thinner-than-a-%c2%a51-coin-toshibas-way-with-words-raises-eyebrows-across-the-internet/feed/ 0 19500 toshiba laptop Samsung 9 Series laptop with a one yen coin One of our writers' Vaio with a one yen coin