Is there a Japanese phrase equivalent to the English phrase: "Guilty Pleasure"?


I am at a loss of words to describing to my host family why I sometimes listen
to "bad" or embarrassing music.

Is there a japanese phrase that can help me tell them it's a "guilty pleasure"
of mine?




As Igor Skochinsky points out, there are some pre-existing translations of
this phrase.

Many phrases, both idiomatic and otherwise, have been translated from one
language into another because the target language doesn't have a word or
phrase that means the exact same thing. In Japanese, these words are sometimes
called 訳語 or 翻訳語 ( _yakugo_ or _hon'yakugo_ , meaning "translation words").

Sometimes, if a translation word is used frequently enough, it becomes part of
the standard lexicon. For example, `彼女` was originally a translation intended
to correspond to western pronouns such as _she_ ; it was read as the phrase
`か(の)おんな`, where `かの` corresponds to modern `あの` "that". Over time, `おんな` was
replaced with `じょ` (the _on_ reading), and the resulting phrase was
lexicalized as the single word `かのじょ`. And in today's Japanese, that word
seems like a perfectly normal part of the language!

Not all translation words (or phrases) integrate into the language as well as
`彼女`, though. Sometimes there _is_ no customary translation that all speakers
will understand. In the case of _guilty pleasure_ , several loan translations
have been coined, and [Igor Skochinsky's
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/12574/1478) helpfully points out
three choices listed on Space ALC. However, I'm not sure any of the choices
will be understood as conveying the exact same thing as the English phrase, at
least not by all speakers. Why do I think that? Well, take a look at some
Google results:

  * [やましい快楽](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E3%82%84%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%81%84%E5%BF%AB%E6%A5%BD%22&safe=active&hl=ja&ei=sdgPUoWRJe2WiQfvtoDYBQ&start=90&sa=N) has only 51 hits, some of which are listing or discussing the meaning of the phrase. It can't be _that_ common.
  * [浅ましい小さな楽しみ](https://www.google.com/search?hl=ja&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22%E6%B5%85%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%81%84%E5%B0%8F%E3%81%95%E3%81%AA%E6%A5%BD%E3%81%97%E3%81%BF%22&=&=&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=&pbx=1) only has 5 hits, only one of which is actually _using_ the term.
  * [罪深き愉しみ](https://www.google.com/search?hl=ja&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22%E7%BD%AA%E6%B7%B1%E3%81%8D%E6%84%89%E3%81%97%E3%81%BF%22&=&=&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=&pbx=1) has more usage, but it's usually used as a book title rather than an idiom. It doesn't appear to be _terribly_ widespread, either.

[Weblio EJJE](http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/guilty+pleasure) lists a fourth
choice:

  * [やましい楽しみ](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E3%82%84%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%81%84%E6%A5%BD%E3%81%97%E3%81%BF%22&safe=active&hl=ja&ei=ItoPUrOyHKS8iAfMwoG4BA&start=90&sa=N) doesn't fare much better at only 59 results. I wasn't able to find much evidence that this term is in common use.

Does that mean you can't use any of these phrases? No, but I don't think the
intended meaning is entirely compositional, so unless they're familiar with
the English idiom and they realize you're translating it, you might have to
_explain what you mean_ after you say it.

Thankfully, besides giving a loan translation, [Weblio
EJJE](http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/guilty+pleasure) also gives an
_explanation_ :

> 良くないとは分かっているのにやめられない楽しみ

That works pretty well, I think. Whether you want to use a loan translation
like one of the above or not is up to you, but my advice is be prepared to
_explain_ it either way. That way you'll be understood even if the person
you're talking to doesn't quite understand the term you used.




As Igor Skochinsky points out, there are some pre-existing translations of
this phrase.

Many phrases, both idiomatic and otherwise, have been translated from one
language into another because the target language doesn't have a word or
phrase that means the exact same thing. In Japanese, these words are sometimes
called 訳語 or 翻訳語 ( _yakugo_ or _hon'yakugo_ , meaning "translation words").

Sometimes, if a translation word is used frequently enough, it becomes part of
the standard lexicon. For example, `彼女` was originally a translation intended
to correspond to western pronouns such as _she_ ; it was read as the phrase
`か(の)おんな`, where `かの` corresponds to modern `あの` "that". Over time, `おんな` was
replaced with `じょ` (the _on_ reading), and the resulting phrase was
lexicalized as the single word `かのじょ`. And in today's Japanese, that word
seems like a perfectly normal part of the language!

Not all translation words (or phrases) integrate into the language as well as
`彼女`, though. Sometimes there _is_ no customary translation that all speakers
will understand. In the case of _guilty pleasure_ , several loan translations
have been coined, and [Igor Skochinsky's
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/12574/1478) helpfully points out
three choices listed on Space ALC. However, I'm not sure any of the choices
will be understood as conveying the exact same thing as the English phrase, at
least not by all speakers. Why do I think that? Well, take a look at some
Google results:

  * [やましい快楽](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E3%82%84%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%81%84%E5%BF%AB%E6%A5%BD%22&safe=active&hl=ja&ei=sdgPUoWRJe2WiQfvtoDYBQ&start=90&sa=N) has only 51 hits, some of which are listing or discussing the meaning of the phrase. It can't be _that_ common.
  * [浅ましい小さな楽しみ](https://www.google.com/search?hl=ja&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22%E6%B5%85%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%81%84%E5%B0%8F%E3%81%95%E3%81%AA%E6%A5%BD%E3%81%97%E3%81%BF%22&=&=&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=&pbx=1) only has 5 hits, only one of which is actually _using_ the term.
  * [罪深き愉しみ](https://www.google.com/search?hl=ja&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22%E7%BD%AA%E6%B7%B1%E3%81%8D%E6%84%89%E3%81%97%E3%81%BF%22&=&=&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=&pbx=1) has more usage, but it's usually used as a book title rather than an idiom. It doesn't appear to be _terribly_ widespread, either.

[Weblio EJJE](http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/guilty+pleasure) lists a fourth
choice:

  * [やましい楽しみ](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E3%82%84%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%81%84%E6%A5%BD%E3%81%97%E3%81%BF%22&safe=active&hl=ja&ei=ItoPUrOyHKS8iAfMwoG4BA&start=90&sa=N) doesn't fare much better at only 59 results. I wasn't able to find much evidence that this term is in common use.

Does that mean you can't use any of these phrases? No, but I don't think the
intended meaning is entirely compositional, so unless they're familiar with
the English idiom and they realize you're translating it, you might have to
_explain what you mean_ after you say it.

Thankfully, besides giving a loan translation, [Weblio
EJJE](http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/guilty+pleasure) also gives an
_explanation_ :

> 良くないとは分かっているのにやめられない楽しみ

That works pretty well, I think. Whether you want to use a loan translation
like one of the above or not is up to you, but my advice is be prepared to
_explain_ it either way. That way you'll be understood even if the person
you're talking to doesn't quite understand the term you used.

