Extreme lightweight design from YYF - The 44!

YoYoExpert Releases and Restocks
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@Biased_Opinion 44 in Mandarin Chinese does not represent death. The word for 44 in Chinese is 四十四 (si shi si) which does not sound like death. The association comes from the word for 4 in Chinese as I’ll explain below. However, it is common for Chinese people to associate anything with 4 inside it, with death as well. Despite this, 44 does not represent death in Chinese. Only the 4 inside 44 represents death.

For 44’s use in Japanese to represent yoyo, this is correct:

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Nevertheless, I have to correct this. 4 in Mandarin Chinese, 四, is pronounced si (4th sound in hanyu pinyin) which is very similar to the pronunciation for death, 死, pronounced si (3rd sound in hanyu pinyin).

However, in Japanese, 4 (四) is pronounced yon which is not similar at all to the pronunciation of death (死) which is pronounced like the Italian si (meaning yes). (Despite the pronunciation written under most websites being shi, after listening to a bunch of people pronouncing it, it sounds as though the h in shi is silent). I think this pronunciation is most likely taken from the Chinese Hokkien dialect as it sounds very similar to the Hokkien pronunciation for death.

So, this only applies to Mandarin Chinese and not to all Asian languages. Japanese and Mandarin Chinese sounds very, very different despite having similar written kanji characters. I can understand and speak Mandarin Chinese but I cannot understand even a lick of spoken Japanese. (It’s a different case for written Japanese). Furthermore, this also doesn’t apply to Chinese dialects like Hokkien, Teo Chew or Cantonese as again, despite using the same written kanji characters, they sound completely different.

In summary, 4 is unlucky to Mandarin Chinese speakers (not all Asian languages) due to it’s pronunciation being very similar to the one for death.

Still, a lot of Asian cultures have their origins in China and have often based their cultures on Chinese culture so superstitions based in Mandarin Chinese may make it into other cultures without having the justification for such superstitions in their language. This would explain why you might encounter Asians that are not Mandarin Chinese speakers with such superstitions.

Fun fact: I’m Chinese and I live on the 4th floor of my building. Guess that’s why I’m always so damn unlucky (never won anything to do with luck, e.g. lotteries, giveaways, etc, in my life before).

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To see how identical it is?

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This is going to be a must get for me. Hopefully they stay in stock long enough.

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:man_facepalming:
I didnt even notice what price he added it at! Fixed.

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This looks great. I’m quite interested in this one

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Love my prototype 44. Looking forward to the production anodized version too.

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Just got my new 44 in the mai- wait no, nevermind…

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Is it the same? Serious question.

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They’re a similar shape, but lowerkase is steel and is thus much heavier

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Can’t wait for mine to come in…These days, I’m mainly pocketing small yoyos with me to work. This sounds like an instant win but I’m very interested in the rather light weight this has to offer, not to mention, USA-made YYF! Ended up getting both the blue and the purple acid wash as I couldn’t decide, both looked cool!

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IDK how it is represented elsewhere. I bought one because it was different. I want to give it a try.

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Hope since this thread is about a lightweight yo-yo it will be ok to ask what is the lightest full sized American made yo-yo available to buy? Thank you.

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Probably the Sprite but good luck finding one

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Although I guess that’s still ‘undersized’. GBP is full size but not American made from what I know

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That would be really interesting. I’d definitely buy a model like that.

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I ordered one. I better love it. I swear I better love it. I better. That’s all I’m saying. I better.

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Looks like a mini Kapital so i got it. Interesting specs. Does it have artisan mark ano? :wink:

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To be clear, many Japanese characters (kanji) have multiple pronunciations.

Counting from one to four in modern Japanese, “ichi…ni…san…shi…” or “ichi…ni…san…yon…” either is correct, although I’ve learned and heard the former more often then the latter. When Japanese is written with English letters, the “i” is pronounced as if you are saying the letter “e”. Therefore “shi” sounds very similar to saying the English word “she” (as in he said she said).

“Yon” is from the ancient Japanese pronunciation of the word four (四) which was pronounced “yo.” The “Shi” pronunciation came to being later in the 4th or 5th century when the Chinese writing system was adopted in Japan. Both “Shi” and “Yon” are used in standard modern Japanese and you need both to speak, although typically “shi” is more common when counting. The common exception off the top of my head is using “shi” for the month of April; April 4th in Japanese is “Shi-gatsu yokka” meaning “4th month and 4th day.”

The verb “to die” is “shinu” in Japanese (死ぬ). The 死 character is pronounced “shi” (again like the English pronoun “she”), and sounds very much like “shi” meaning 4 (四).

In Taiwanese the words “four” and “death” also both sound alike, both pronounced like the Italian word “si” (meaning yes). And checking with Google-Sensei we have a similar thing going on in Korean as well. (if someone speaks Korean please chime in, I’d love to learn!)

So yes in China, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea the number 4 is definitely not a lucky number as they are all homophones for the word death. Chinese language and culture is definitely the OG daddy for this superstition in these countries.

I was a bit thrown when I first saw the brand “44clash” the Japanese yoyo world. But forty-four is pronounced “yon juu yon” So there is that play on words with 44 sounding like “yoyo” in Japanese. Or “yo yo” using the 3rd century pronunciation.

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I love anything that takes a Crack at topping the mini star 2, I’d be in as well! Also have to say I have been over yoyofactory blue/aqua for a hot minute, but that washed blue is a pretty spicy color

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This is what I was always told at the blackjack table from Asian players. Very skilled players for the most part and always appreciative of playing with other skilled players so I felt like they were being honest.