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To my ears, the Japanese means:

> I am an akuma (demon), and a shitsuji (butler).

I guess it must have a pun meaning, too. On one occasion, a bad guy cried out
"a-a-akuma?", but that's the exception: everybody seems cool after hearing it.
How can Sebastian say this so casually?


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japanese-language black-butler
How can Sebastian use "I am a butler and a devil" so casually?


Yeah, it's a pun. When read

> 悪魔で執事ですから  
>  akuma de shitsuji desu kara

It means

> I'm a devil and a butler, you see.

Whereas, when read as the identical-sounding

> 飽くまで執事ですから  
>  aku made shitsuji desu kara

It means

> I'm a butler through and through, you see.

* * *

This pun ( _aku made_ vs. _akuma de_ ) is a relatively common one in Japanese.
For an example of a second-order pun of this variety, see the omake at the end
of episode 26 of Yowamushi Pedal:

[![I'm a sheep through and
through](https://i.stack.imgur.com/oplfTm.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/oplfT.jpg)

The fellow on the right was transformed from being a sheep to a (human)
butler, and so instead of saying _aku made **shitsuji** desu kara_ "I'm a
butler through and through", he says _aku made **hitsuji** desu kara_ "I'm a
sheep through and through" (butler = _shitsuji_ , sheep = _hitsuji_ ; cf.
[What do the sheep dolls represent in Mayo
Chiki?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/14433/)).

* * *

Additional note: the `aku` in the two examples are homophones that mean
different things. The `aku` in my first example is `悪`, which means "evil".
The `aku` in my second example is `飽く`, which is a verb meaning "to grow tired
of" (you see its more common synonym `飽きる` = `akiru` more often).

The compound construction `aku made` (`飽くまで`) means "until I grow tired of ~"
when viewed as two different words, and means "completely" or "thoroughly"
when viewed as a fixed idiomatic compound (this latter usage is standard;
analyzing it as a verb+`まで` is not).

The official English translation by Funimation aptly captures the meaning and
magnitude of this pun by translating it as "You see, I'm merely one hell of a
butler." This reflects both his demonic nature as well as his skills as a
servant using a common English expression that has more or less the same
meaning.


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