As someone who once accidentally ordered pizza with 河豚 on it because I assumed the kanji meant pork, this thread made me laugh. You never know when a word will come in handy!
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This one brought back fond memories of my first business trip to Japan… working in Itami, Hyougo, then hopping the train into Osaka crossing the mighty Yodogawa.
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Thanks for all the wonderful replies and advice.
It’s nice to have free time, (no WaniKani!) so I can read all the replies! 
I wasn’t trolling, just venting… Yes, I agree… it is a personal decision to quit…and 里心 almost made me rage quit when I hit that one too. My goal with Japanese is practical usage because I use Japanese every day…so I’d rather use my valuable time for that. And if/when I do come back, I’ll just skip these kind of kanji. I just need a long WK break, because I was losing it.
It’s like if I “forced” you to learn this English word… “Zenzizenzizenzic” Yes, it is English, and hardly anyone knows it. It’s an outdated maths word meaning “To the power of 8” …so why bother learning a word that isn’t used… Zenzizenzizenzic - Wikipedia
I feel the same with 河豚. It does make you feel clever in front of Japanese friends, but ultimately, I felt just felt like that pig swimming in a river… He’s just wasting his time. 
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I honestly thought you were trolling until I read this. Sad to see you discouraged after 20+ years of japanese study by a meme.
さらばだ
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Except that numerous people here have told you they’ve seen 河豚’s kanji in the wild (some where not knowing it impacted them), and 100% of Japanese people know the word itself.
Eh.
Since I’m curious now, I’ll do a survey tomorrow. I wouldn’t be surprised if some kids I teach can read it, because they know I study kanji and I’ve had them challenge me to read difficult animal names before.
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Well, I’ll take it! I just love words like that.
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Wait- that’s such a cool word though, lookit all those z’s :0
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Yeah but Sherlock is, what we refer to as in my neck of the woods, “a bit of a knob.” 
Anyway, he gets proven wrong when John’s “useless” knowledge actually helps him solve a case.
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One of my favourite things is a non-English speaker attempting to swear and getting it just slightly wrong. It makes for some unintended hilarity. One of my favourites being “You Mother-Bitch!”
Edit:
Honestly, the main reason I know the word ‘fugu’ is because of the Simpsons and given the amount of times my fiancé uses the phrase “fan-fugu-tastic” I’m actually looking forward to learning the kanji for it! Not everything has to be useful. Sometimes things are just fun to learn.
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Missed opportunity for:
Wait- that’s such a cool word though, lookit all those zenzeis :0 heh
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I guarantee I’m going to use that word tonight just to freak out my fiancé now.
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Maybe I’m just a giant jerkface, but should you even need WaniKani if you’ve been living and working in Japan for 20+ years? 
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cool! Now I know Zenzizenzizenzic…that will be rolling around in the ol noggin’ all day. Would make a great password…Unlike Conan Doyle I do not think brain space is finite and therefore believe there is room for both useful and whimsical alike. I don’t think Fugu will break you. Thanks for the Z word!
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I didn’t want to say it. I didn’t want to say it. I didn’t want to say it…
But replying to your comment in agreement also makes me a giant jerkface if fellow crabigators deem you as one. Oh well…I have hopped onto the wagon 
choo choo 
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You’d be surprised.
But the question itself is kinda a dumb one to ask and you’re just doing it to be rude.
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Every once in a while we get threads like this with people fundamentally misunderstanding that this isn’t a site for learning vocabulary, it’s a site for learning kanji supplemented by hefty loads of vocabulary to reinforce them.
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I bet so many people here would go out of their way to print 鰐蟹 on t-shirts just to get it out there ‘in the wild’ and prove this comment wrong 
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Does Tofugu sell merchandise? I would buy that shirt!
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Well, you wouldn’t be the first to think of doing that it seems.
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