This board.
Ouija, they pronounce it as WEE-juh. 🤔🤷
But to me, that's clearly two words combined: oui + ja = ouija.
Now why were they combined? That's comical.
Oui = yes. It's a French word. A bit like how English pronounces "we". Sometimes, "way". For instance in French telly, Oui, alors... ⬅️ that would sound, that.
Ja = yes. A Germanic word. Usually, pronounced as "ya".
We-ya. Like that Bruce-Lee yell. It's specifically Bruce Lee. Mike Tyson perhaps did it, but not recorded.
(Bruce facepalms.)
If we utter each with proper pronunciation, "ouija" will sound like a confused French in a Bavarian tavern with a Cockney barman.
(Barman.) Two quid, please.
(Ouija bloke.) Oui... Ja!
(Barman.) 🤨 Oi, guv. Two quid.
(Ouija bloke.) Deux? NEIN! 🍺 Ouijahahahaha! 🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️
(Barman.) 👀 Blimey!
That's like calling it "Hainaeam".
"Hai" (はい) = yes (Japanese).
"Naeam" (نعم) = yes (Arabic).
(Sadako Yamamura nods from inside the telly in Qatar.)
🤦♂️🤷
Sadako, please stay there. The countdown won't start if you stay put like a papaya plant. Papaya plant root power, activate!
⬆️ I just brought Stan Lee's universe into this.
Notice how every superhero in Marvel's realm does that sort of proclamation. Hulk smash, activating power bonkers. Like that? That's how Stan Lee brought boy-world into his comic book. The Japanese did it first though. Intensely. Generalisation exhibit:
💢 Pose ➡️ 📢 Call out power/element ➡️ 💥 Activate / Transform / Combine.
(Sadako.) Posing inside the telly ➡️ Papaya plant root power, activate! ➡️ Still. 🌱
It's called "tokusatsu transformation call from inside the telly by Sadako Yamamura".
Or tattoo-vibe: "Yamamura Sadako no terebi-naibu tokusatsu henshin kōru!" (in broken katakana, written right to left diagonally, in a tattoo parlour in Doha.)
！ルーコ ンシンヘ ツサクト ブイナビレテ ノ コダサ ラムマヤ 😵💫😵
⬆️ It's all katakana, from right to left. Oi, we don't use hiragana because the pints said so.
Katakana is Japanese syllabic script used for writing foreign loanwords and such. Not to be confused with katana, the sword. Kana = hiragana + katakana, kanji sits on the bench with a towel round the shoulders.
Doha is the capital of Qatar.
Now we are more enlightened than before, are we not?
The kind of enlightenment where we wake up at 3 a.m. and mutter, Katakana… not the sword… Doha… Towel… Then roll over and sleep like a sage.
Etymology
This is taken from Wikipedia.
The board named itself. Oh, did it now?
Aye, we need to respect that sales pitch. That Good Luck bit above had me in stitches. As if we buy a blender and the cashier says, Good. Luck. (Deadpan stare.)
But indeed in ancient times, this sort of practice was known. Quite so.
The practice of summoning the spirit of the dead — for chatting. Minus the corpse, which would be utterly self-defeating if it were included. ☠️ No chat can even begin from the horror. That one might encounter.
"Talking to the dead" is largely related to our coping mechanism. But not to plonkers with shovels asking about the doubloons stash. Coping, not copying. Hm.
And surely, not the practice of naming an inanimate object by waiting for its response. Oi rock, I'm a medium. Who are you? (Waiting.) It's quite long to wait despite the medium. Other perhaps said large or small, but that still wouldn't change the outcome.
There's no "summoning the spirit of the living" since the living can give a proper feedback.
By the power of biscuits, I summon thee by the spirit!
(Dialing phone number.)
(Ringing.)
(Hung-up tone.)
Then this trope in olden world was banned, then side-eyed. Because people realised gremlins often hitchhiked the ritual.
Well, not banned. Like when we stub a toe, we can't ban that. 🤔
Think conveyor belt in factory. It goes one way, right? Well, usually. The conveyor runs one way for a reason. If one broken doll slips through, we don't shout "REVERSE IT!" — that's how we get sacked three times before lunch. System halts, alarms blare, and we've summoned Declan the packaging supervisor with his clipboards and popping-out veins. Again.
We quietly press the reverse button and hope that Declan won't find out. That clipboard is made of steel.
Yes-No
This part:
YES OUIJA NO.
🤔
YES, OUI = YES, JA = YES, NO.
Thus it says, YES, YES, YES, NO. Talking about dithering. Gremlins usually thrive upon indecisiveness.
Until Next Time
📢 Power Sadako!
📢 Papaya plant!
🎵 Dakishimeta kokoro no kosumo
🎵 Atsuku moyase kiseki o okose!
In English, it goes:
📢 Power Sadako!
📢 Papaya plant!
🎵 The cosmos of your heart, embraced
🎵 Burn hotly, cause a miracle!
The first bit is... that. (Lord Drumton sighs.) The last is the first two lines from Pegasus Fantasy by Make-Up.
RIP Nobuo Yamada, 9 August 2025 at the age of 61.
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