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I'm guessing _himouto_ (干物妹) is some kind of pun on _imouto_ since Umaru lives
with her brother. But what's the joke? Googling the term in either kanji or
romaji just returns results about the series.


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2016-07-21T04:14:33.420
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2018-04-08T20:18:50.917
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question
japanese-language himouto-umaru-chan
What's a himouto?


_himouto_ is a blend of the words _imouto_
([妹](http://jisho.org/search/%E5%A6%B9): Little sister) and _himono_
([干物](http://jisho.org/search/%E5%B9%B2%E7%89%A9)).

_himono_ literally translates to dried-fish, however the slang [_himono-
onna_](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=himono-onna) is used to
describe girls who put on a different face for when they're out of the house.

The top [Urban Dictionary
listing](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=himono-onna) defines
it as:

> "himono-onna - girls in their twenties whom outside their home puts on a
> lively face, but as soon they get home, they change into their shirts and
> their hair are tied up like a samurai-style topknot, and they might even
> scratch their ass. snack in one hand, and canned beer in the other. on
> weekends they don’t go to blind dates, when they don’t have work they eat
> and sleep and eat and sleep and not a single guy around them." -- from
> Hotaru no Hikari (jdrama).

Apparently (as the UD listing says) the definition stems from the franchise
[_Hotaru no
Hikari_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotaru_no_Hikari_\(manga\)).

As you can imagine, Hotaru no Hikari has a similar plot to Himouto Umaru Chan:

> Hotaru works for a famous interior design company. It's a glamorous job but
> Hotaru's private life is totally the opposite of glamorous. She lives alone,
> and when she isn't working she's mostly lazing about her rented house in
> training wear. She's not interested in men. In fact, she isn't interested in
> anything. "I'd rather lay around than fool around," is her motto.

[from here](http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Hotaru_no_Hikari)


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2016-07-21T04:25:19.833
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2016-07-21T04:25:19.833
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answer