Japanese
In Japanese, naninani (なになに, a doubled form of the word nani, meaning what) is often used as a placeholder. It does not necessarily mean a physical object. For example, it is often used to stand in for an omitted word when discussing grammar. Similarly, daredare (だれだれ, doubled form of who) can be used for people, and nantoka nantoka (なんとかなんとか, doubled form of something) as a variant for things. Hoge (ほげ, no literal meaning) has been gaining popularity in the computing world, where it is used much like foo and bar.
nyoro nyoro (literally "~~") is also a popular placeholder name.
The symbol 〇〇 (まるまる, maru-maru, meaning "circle-circle") is used as a general-purpose placeholder.
Read more about this topic: Erika Mustermann
Famous quotes containing the word japanese:
“The Japanese say, “If the flower is to be beautiful, it must be cultivated.””
—Lester Cole, U.S. screenwriter, Nathaniel Curtis, and Frank Lloyd. Nick Condon (James Cagney)
“The Japanese are, to the highest degree, both aggressive and unaggressive, both militaristic and aesthetic, both insolent and polite, rigid and adaptable, submissive and resentful of being pushed around, loyal and treacherous, brave and timid, conservative and hospitable to new ways.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)
“I will be all things to you. Father, mother, husband, counselor, Japanese bartender.”
—Mae West, U.S. screenwriter, W.C. Fields, and Edward Cline. Cuthbert Twillie (W.C. Fields)