Calpis Meaning: Japan's Oldest Soft Drink Sounds Like Cow Piss
Calpis, Japan's oldest soft drink, has nothing to do with cows. "Cal" comes from calcium and "pis" from an old Sanskrit word for butter. In English it sounds like "cow piss". In Japan, almost nobody hears it that way, because they don't read the name as English at all.
In the episode, Rin sends Tadashi to a Tokyo konbini at 11 p.m. His mission: buy dinner for movie night. His only rule: nothing with a weird name. In a Japanese convenience store, that turns out to be very hard. Here is everything he puts back on the shelf, and why.
Where the name Calpis comes from
Calpis dates from 1919. It was Japan's first fermented milk drink. The name joins two pieces: "cal" from calcium, and "pis" from sarpis, a Sanskrit word for butter. So the name means something like "calcium butter". No cow involved.
Does the company know how it sounds in English? Yes. In America the same drink is sold as Calpico. So why not change it in Japan too? Because in Japan, nobody reads it as an English word.
Katakana: why nobody in Japan hears it
The name on the bottle is written in カタカナ (katakana), the alphabet Japan uses for words from outside. You read katakana as a sound, not as a meaning. カルピス (karupisu) is just the name of a drink to a Japanese kid, the way "Pepsi" is just a name to you.
So the cow only exists in the head of the English speaker. Rin keeps putting every bottle Tadashi rejects into her own basket.
Pocari Sweat
Next on the shelf: Pocari Sweat, Japan's favorite sports drink. Tadashi is horrified. Why would anyone drink sweat?
You don't drink sweat. You drink back what you lose when you sweat: water and salts. It's a refill with a strange name. And every summer the TV ad looks the same: a girl in white running on a beach, drinking it.
The trick is the same as with Calpis. In Japanese, "sweat" is not the word for sweat. The word is 汗 (ase). Its kanji has water on the left (氵) and "dry" on the right (干): water that dries on your skin. On the label, "sweat" is just a sound, like "Pocari". And Pocari doesn't mean anything at all.
Homo Sausage, and when Japan does rename things
By now Tadashi's basket is empty and Rin's is full. He goes for something safe. A sausage is just a sausage. Then he reads the red and yellow pack: Homo Sausage.
"Homo" comes from homogenised. The fish is blended smooth, like milk. It has been called Homo Sausage for seventy years, and nobody in Japan even blinks.
So does Japan ever rename things? Yes, when foreigners are the ones reading. Near Osaka there is a university that was called Kinki University in English. Kinki is just the name of the region. English speakers heard "kinky". So in 2016, its English name became Kindai.
That's the real answer to the episode's question. Japan knows what Calpis sounds like in English, which is why it's Calpico in America. At home it's katakana, just a sound. Look around the konbini and you'll notice that the only person laughing is the foreigner.
The phrase that saves you in any shop
Tadashi still needs dinner, and he can't say any of these names with a straight face. Rin's fix: don't say the name. Point, and say これ、ください (kore, kudasai), "this one, please". It works for almost anything in a shop. He gets fried chicken from the hot counter, then points at the Calpis.
Back on the balcony, he finally tries it. It's really good. The meal starts with いただきます (itadakimasu), "I humbly receive", and ends with ごちそうさまでした (gochisōsama deshita), "thank you for the meal".
Japanese words from this episode
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| いただきます | itadakimasu | I humbly receive (said before eating) |
| カタカナ | katakana | the alphabet for foreign words |
| カルピス | karupisu | Calpis |
| 汗 | ase | sweat (氵 water + 干 dry) |
| これ、ください | kore, kudasai | this one, please |
| ごちそうさまでした | gochisōsama deshita | thank you for the meal |
FAQ
What does Calpis mean?
"Cal" comes from calcium and "pis" from sarpis, a Sanskrit word for butter. The drink was launched in Japan in 1919 and has nothing to do with cows.
Why is Calpis called Calpico in the US?
Because the company knows how "Calpis" sounds in English. In Japan the name is written in katakana and read as a plain sound, so nobody there hears anything strange.
Why is it called Pocari Sweat?
The drink is meant to give back the water and salts you lose when you sweat. In Japanese, sweat is 汗 (ase), so the English word on the label reads as a sound, not as "sweat".
