Table of Contents
Mai Waifu
'My Wife' (俺の嫁, Ore no Yome), commonly rendered as 'Mai Waifu', is a subjective label that certain people attach to their ideal, fictional woman. The term is not restricted by gender, so any person can use it regardless of gender or sexual orientation, but it is extremely dated.
History
In Japanese
In Japan, the term 'Ore no Yome' (俺の嫁) was originally used by women in doujin circles, like several other terms with fujoshi origins, then it would be picked up by men. Naturally, this spawned a couple of similar, derivative terms. However, it'd be confusing if I just wrote them all down as the gendered pronouns would get lost in translation, so I've provided a simple, small chart with those terms instead below:
| Term | Etymology | Literal meaning(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pronoun | Noun | |||
| 俺の嫁 ore no yome | ore (male) | yome (wife) | my wife | |
| 俺の婿 ore no muko | muko (husband) | my husband | ||
| 俺の娘 ore no musume | musume (daughter/girl) | my daughter, my girl | “She's not my wife, she's my dear daughter.” | |
| 俺の妹 ore no imouto | imouto (little sister) | my little sister, my sister | This particular one is infamous for a certain incest series with an early 2010s anime adaptation. | |
| 私の嫁 watashi no yome | watashi (neutral) | yome (wife) | my wife | “If I were a man, I'd marry her.” |
| 私の婿 watashi no muko | muko (husband) | my husband | Most female otaku don't actually use this. Instead, they use 'oshi', 'idol', 'darling', 'future husband', etc. | |
| 僕の嫁 boku no yome | boku (male) | yome (wife) | my wife | A lesser used variant, with a childish tone. |
While it may be tempting to use these terms for real-life people (e.g. idols, actors, etc.), many alternatives like 'oshi' (推し), 'gachikoi' (ガチ恋), and 'riako' (リアコ) exist for such cases. Nowadays, it appears that most Japanese otaku have disowned the term, not just the yuri fans who say it clashes with their values, and dislike of the term has grown as it becomes more dated or obsolete.
In English
In the early 2000s, there was an Azumanga Daioh scene where their male teacher, Kimura, explains that the picture that Tomo had found was 'my wife' in accented English, which sounds line 'mai waifu'. For some reason, this spread within 4chan, then derivatives like 'mai husbando' emerged. On the other hand, the term is partially mocked as the stereotypes are built-in and fictosexuality hadn't been a thing yet.
In Chinese
The exact details of the term's spread to the Chinese internet is unknown, but it's rumored that their Chinese equivalent, 'wǒ lǎopó' (我老婆, lit. “my wife”), started being used as early as 2008. As per usual, this would eventually lead to a number of derivatives, such as: 'wǒ lǎogōng' (我老公, lit. “my husband”), 'wǒ nǚ'ér' (我女儿, lit. “my daughter”), 'wǒ mèimei' (我妹妹, lit. “my little sister”), etc.
Notes
- The kanji 'yome' (嫁) means 'wife' or 'bride' in this instance, but can also mean 'daughter-in-law'.
- Similarly, the hanzi 'lǎopó' (老婆) means 'wife' in this instance, but can also mean 'old lady'.
- Chinese and Japanese use different characters, since the hanzi 'jià' (嫁) is the verb for 'to marry'.
- At some point, the term 'yome senzou' (嫁戦争, lit. “waifu war”) existed, though it's rarely used.
- The pronoun doesn't automatically imply that a person is unwilling to share their love with others.
External links
- Ore no Yome on Japanese Wikipedia
- Ore no Yome on Pixiv Encyclopedia
- Ore no Yome on Niconico Encyclopedia
- Wǒ Lǎopó on Moegirl Encyclopedia [ZH]