Why do we use these names?

[leftTBT]

As I've been on this forum, I've noticed the use of peppy, normal, etc. used to describe the personalities of villagers.
So, why did we start using snooty, jock, lazy, etc. to describe personalities, when there was already a description, yet we left the uchi personality alone, when we could have used 'tomboy' or something?
Which do you like more, English or Japanese pronouns?

 

[Charcolor]

i don't know why people use "uchi" instead of "tomboy" but now i want to start using "tomboy" out of spite...although i'm not sure that's a good description. stereotypical tomboys usually aren't as concerned with cleaning and skin care like uchi villagers are.
i think "big sister" is a more proper term, but people just thought it was too long and just decided to use the original japanese name. and even then some people see uchi villagers as more motherly than sisterly (and i kind of do too, since tammy, who's an uchi, has the same name as my mom). maybe it's just because the fanbase couldn't settle on a proper term for uchis.

i prefer using the english names mostly because they're what i'm used to and they're easier to remember.

 

[Venn]

If they used the Japanese names for the personalities, I would be so confused if I was just starting the game new.
I don't know the language, so I would prefer the english names.

 

[ShenkuuBlossoms]

Uchi is in the same boat as pi?ata for me-- a word derived from another language, but rolls off the tongue easily and is recognized by a large majority of people whether they know the parent language or not.

I barely know any Japanese, so I'd be pretty confused if people suddenly started using the Japanese descriptions for everything.

 

[Kanade Kitty]

as someone who speaks both mentioned languages, i think that it would be harder for people who only speak english to understand the personalities that way

like the "Normal" villager in Japanese is "Watashi", which is an average pronoun to use, but it also is a polite pronoun to use, which is characteristic of the "Watashi" animals... but it's hard to explain that in one adjective for a personality, so english speakers just call it "normal" (normal is also basically the same as "futsuu")

another way that using japanese in the English translation could be confusing is if they used Ore for the cranky or atashi for snooty because English (at least american speaking?) don't use gendered pronouns in the same way as japanese .ore has a connotation with masculinity and authority, for example, and there is no English variant of "I/me" that an English speaker could relate that to, so they wouldn't understand the personality of the villager. another example is atashi being feminine, but even to a point of being proud of or emphasizing that femininity, which is why snooty villagers wear makeup and are kind of materialistic (stereotypical traits of mature girly-girls)

it all kind of boils down to not everyone knows japanese, so the english speaking audience tries to concisely explain the villager's personalities through their translated titles to... understand... what they're playing and who they have in their village...yeah
^__^

 

[Duzzel]

That sounds much more interesting, and I really like the concept of Japanese pronouns as descriptions for the personalities.

But it makes sense why they translated it out. It just wouldn't make sense to an english-speaking audience. Though I feel like the Japanese way does a better job of describing the characters and giving them character.

 

[leftTBT]

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[Mary]

I think we have always used the names for the original personality types that way. At least, I know we used them for City Folk.
Cranky, snooty, peppy, normal, lazy, and jock. I think it's been that way for a long time. The smug and uchi villagers were new in New Leaf, so we had to figure out what to call them. At one point, many people referred to uchi villagers as "big sister types," but the Japanese players referred to them as "uchi," which is simple and easy to say. I think it just came down to what is easiest to remember and most familiar.

 

[supercataleena]

I agree, the villagers could have been given better labels.
I think the reason uchi villagers did not get the tomboy title is because of peppy villagers. Personally, when I imagine peppy, I think of cheerleader/girly types, however, as we all know, peppy villagers are wayyyyyyy far from that and are really weird lol. To give uchi villagers the tomboy title I think would create further conflict with them. As both peppy and uchi share many similar qualities, I could only think this is why they didn't use tomboy.

Also, uchi sounds way cooler than tomboy. It adds exotic allure to the game. It makes uchi villagers seem special.

 

[Rubylena]

The English language just doesn't have those kind of words, does it? So they had to come up with something. Are those purely fanmade terms or are they featured in some official content?
In German uchi is often referred to as mature which I think doesn't make sense, cause to me they sound like 16year old girls who try to be cool and are all about gossip and staying up the whole night. So tomboy wouldn't quite fit the image I have of them either. "Big sister" is what I consider the best term but it's stupid to say along with the adjectives for the others and I think that's why people just use uchi.

 

[Chicha]

This thread is really interesting. I only got into the game last year so I had no idea Uchi was a term Japanese players made up to call the villagers. I was always under the impression Uchi was an official title from the English release. So what do the English guides call Uchi villagers then??

 

[Mary]

I'll check my guide.

Hm. It doesn't mention personality types at all.

 

[leftTBT]

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[Chicha]

Oh wow, that is interesting! You learn something new every day, haha.

 

[etsusho]

It is weird that "uchi" was the only one left unchanged. I do like the way it sounds, though. Maybe they just thought there wasn't a good enough noun that accurately reflected it. But if all of the personality names were in Japanese, I think that would be confusing for people - especially if they don't have any exposure to the Japanese language. They'd be saying them all funny and just get frustrated with it. I've had people totally screw up my last name, and just shrugged it off, basically saying they were incapable of pronouncing Japanese words. Which, in the case of my last name, is completely ridiculous... but just shows that people would much prefer English words than to try to learn other ones.

- - - Post Merge - - -

I'm 99% sure that all personality names are fan-made, and the villagers have no 'official' personality type.

I didn't know that at all. Everybody says them, so I just assumed they were official.

 

[GirlPolarBear]

It's easier for us to understand the personalities as English people, because we don't know what 'ore' would initially mean unless we researched it. If they said, for example, 'jock' out immediate impression would be, oh yeah! Sporty and strong. Also, ore is already in the English came and would also confuse us lol

 

[etsusho]

So I was thinking about this, and I have a question.... If all the personality types are fan-made, then does that mean a fan had to actually go through each character individually and figure out what each character's personality was? That seems like way too much work.

 

[Charcolor]

So I was thinking about this, and I have a question.... If all the personality types are fan-made, then does that mean a fan had to actually go through each character individually and figure out what each character's personality was? That seems like way too much work.

no, i don't think so. i guess the fans worked together to match up certain dialogue to see who was normal, who was lazy, etc.
like, i guess there was one villager and someone was like "i think this guy should be cranky" and there was another villager with the same deep voice and dialogue and the fans were like "oh, hey, this one's cranky too!"
there's hundreds of villagers and thousands of fans, so i don't think it was the work of one person.

 

[namiieco]

Well, the reason they probably changed most of the personalities is because (obviously) most westerners will find it hard to pronounce.

 

[Mr. Cat]

That explains why I've always liked Snooty villagers most but I never liked admitting it because snooty sounds so... snobby/rude. Like I'll get a snooty and fall in love with them immediately and then upon finding out they're a snooty I feel a different kind of way about them, just because of the name. I always thought they acted more mature. It all makes sense now.