Feb 3, 2012 14:22
12 yrs ago
English term

Roto Buddha

English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
(the girl says her Mom is detoxing in California; the boy says:)
“Cool! Party at your house?”
“Can’t. The feng shui man’s there. Our karma’s, like, really blocked, you know?”
Roto Buddha. Only in the Heights.

*
the Heights are the Brooklyn Heights in New York
the dialogue is between two seniors from a private school

I couldn't google up "Roto"
and I don't quite get the meaning of "Roto Buddha" in general
because feng shui isn't a Buddhist thing
(then again, "Buddha" here might stand for anything new-age-generic, no?)

any ideas?

thanks!

Discussion

Alexandra Taggart Feb 4, 2012:
Please, Melanie... Of course, you'd guess, identify and know better that which is semantically so terse. I just wanted to point-it shoud have been a very special day. Now, I do realise, that is a MOCKING TONE. Buddhists are going for detox!!!
Melanie Nassar Feb 4, 2012:
With all due respect Alexandra I don't think it has anything to do with Buddha per se, but is more likely as zmejka suggests, Buddha is just used generically to give it a Far Eastern touch. The humor is that feng shui for unblocking karma is being associated with a very mundane activity. Buddha just happens to lend itself to a pun in English; it might be difficult to find a comparable pun in another language and it most likely would not involve Buddha.
Alexandra Taggart Feb 3, 2012:
Plenty in Google of a day of Happy Rotating Buddha:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carmnyc/5223354765/
Alexandra Taggart Feb 3, 2012:
a special day There are many special or holy days held throughout the year by the Buddhist community. Day of Blue Buddha, day of orange Buddha, purple and green. It could be one of them. Local dialect might have altered the pronounciation of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/timbojones/2444135447/
Stephanie Ezrol Feb 3, 2012:
Here's an older set of ads, but all in rhyme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkD6AfNFge0&feature=related
DLyons Feb 3, 2012:
"Roto" is used among bong users (which I think these are) to mean rotation. But what a "rotation Buddha" might be I have no idea.
Lindsay Spratt Feb 3, 2012:
Broken? Perhaps 'roto' refers to the Spanish for 'broken' and it's been put in front of 'buddha' as though its English? I guess you'd have bad energy or karma in your house if you had a broken buddha. Just a guess because I can't think of what else it might mean.

Responses

+8
1 hr
Selected

play on words

roto-rooter is a company that clears blocked sewage lines
Roto Buddha (for a New Yorker, they would rhyme) clears up blocked karma

Peer comment(s):

agree Stephanie Ezrol : it's the first thought that came to my mind, roto-rooter ads used to be on TV and radio all the time. In business since 1935. http://www.rotorooter.com/
5 mins
then this should bring back some memories (jingle at the end) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2WSl4d4KGw
agree Colin Rowe : Sounds convincing!
17 mins
Thanks
agree P.L.F. Persio : very clever!
21 mins
Thanks
agree Yvonne Gallagher
26 mins
Thanks
agree Charles Davis : Yes, very clever. I'm impressed! / That's true; Zmejka's going to have to be very creative (or just leave it out). Puns are fun, but they can take all day!
1 hr
Thanks, but the hard part is going to be to find some way to translate it
agree Phong Le
18 hrs
agree Arabic & More : Good job deciphering this!
20 hrs
agree Alexandra Taggart
1 day 4 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "you're the sherlock holmes of proz.com :) thank you for the enlightment! "
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search