Did you have anything OC Desu (OCです) today?

If your answer is “Wha?” then you’re probably not hip to the new buzzword circling around social media in Japanese recently. Students of the language can probably figure it out by saying it out loud, and the image above gives us a pretty big hint too.

By sounding it out with a Japanese accent, you’ll get something along the lines of “oishi desu” or “it’s delicious” in English. That might not sound quite right to English speakers though. It’s because Japanese doesn’t have a hard S sound before long E sounds or short I sounds. Other combinations like “Sa, Su, and So” are fine but when those two particular vowel sounds are used with the “sh” sound, a good chuckle is had when someone asks, “Can I sit here?”

So, in OC Desu, the C sounds like “shi” which quite frankly still doesn’t sound exactly right. Commenters on our Japanese site seemed to agree that the phrase would probably be better as OEC Desu. One suggestion in particular had a nice ring to it: “OEC Death.”

It seems it’s too late for alterations though as the OC Desu bandwagon has thoroughly hit the road running with more and more instances of it popping up online.

Something especially interesting about OC Desu is that its a new word that we can trace back to its coinage with relative certainty. The term – or at least its widespread use – was inspired by a YouTube channel called Tarzo Channel run by Tarzo01. He has a small collection of videos where he taste-tests limited edition flavors of products by first reading the label in it’s entirety, sampling the goods, and giving his detailed opinion.

http://youtu.be/U836qRDFdvU

I have no idea why, but this is one of the best videos I have ever seen. There are many other YouTube taste-testers out there who perform with a lot of vim and vigor. Tarzo, however, carries himself with certain poise and confidence that’s strangely appealing and demanding of our attention. It’s no wonder people have gravitated to him and started echoing his authoritatively delivered praises of “OC Desu.”

Tarzo doesn’t have nearly the same view-count as other YouTube celebs. Actually he barely makes a dent in the page views of his biggest rival Hikakin.

Still, for having ushered a new word in the lexicon of Japan, Tarzo certainly deserves a place as an internet star… If he’s still alive that is. The guy hasn’t released a video in six months and judging by the way he downed that milk soda he probably wasn’t the healthiest of chaps.

Video: YouTube – Tarzo01, Hikakin TV
Original article by Nakano
[ Read in Japanese ]