Dear Reader:
Potential insight into Nintendo Labo's name
Nintendo Labo might seem like a bit of a strange name here in the states. Most of us assume Nintendo was going for Nintendo Lab, or Nintendo Laboratory. Still, it's strange to see the abbreviation Labo in the states. Why would Nintendo go with something like that? A blurb from Legends of Localization might help explain things.
...The extra “o” is there because Japanese words work differently from other languages: in extremely simple terms, most Japanese words don’t end with consonants (except for “n”) – they almost always have a vowel at the end. We don’t have that in English, though, so our abbreviation is just “lab”.
As I studied the language more and spent time in Japan, I was surprised at how often I saw “Labo” everywhere I looked. On signs, on TV, in ads, in games – it felt like the word “Labo” was absolutely everywhere. And, whenever the word was used, it was usually written out in English rather than in Japanese for some reason.
Over time, I picked up a few more nuances about “Labo”:
“Labo” is written out in English so often to evoke a confident feeling of skill and competence. Plus it just looks cool to Japanese sensibilities.
In addition to “lab” as we normally use it in everyday English, it seems “Labo” is often used in situations where we’d probably use the word “classroom” or “workshop”.
You can get even more details on the usage of the word Labo in the full article. Make sure to check it out!