Meaning of だけに (dake ni) and Its Usage to Make a Pun in Japanese

In this post, I explain the meanings of だけに and how to use it to make a pun in Japanese. In the end, I also explain the differences between だけに (dake ni) and だけあって (dake atte).

Meaning of だけに (dake ni)

There are roughly two meanings:

Meaning 1: “only to”

チョコレートを彼だけにあげた。
I gave chocolate only to him.

In this case, the phrase consists of two parts: だけ (“only”) + に (“to”)

Meaning 2: “especially/particularly because”

期待がかなり大きかっただけに、とてもがっかりな結果だった。
Especially because the expectation was very high, the result was quite disappointing.

だけに in this sense is also used to make a pun, as explained below.

How to Make a Pun Using だけに

Sometimes, だけに is used to make a (cheesy) pun, meaning “because …, you know?”. In this case, the word order is usually inverted and it’s placed at the end of a sentence/remark. It is also used when you didn’t intend to make a pun but realised that you can make a joke impromptu after you said something.

Example 1

1. このスープあっさりしてるね、アサリだけに。
This soup tastes “assari” (light), because it’s “asari” (clam) soup, you know?

Example 2

(This is a less obvious case than Example 1)

2. この犬カフェ、１時間ワンコインらしいよ。犬だけに。
Seems like it’s “one coin” (500 yen) for 1 hour in this dog cafe, because it’s “dog”, you know?

(* In Japanese, the bark of a dog is ワンワン (“wan wan”), not “bow-wow”. Therefore, 犬 (いぬ, “dog”) is also called わんこ sometimes)

3. お腹いっぱい、もうこれ以上焼肉食べれないな、牛だけに
I’m so full, I can’t eat yakiniku any more, because it’s  “cow”, you know?.

“moo” (a sound of a cow) is モー (mō) in Japanese.

Examples 4 & 5

Finally, here are two examples of cross-lingual puns.

4. 今週の金曜日はエビフライ食べない？フライデーだけに。
How about eating deep-fried shrimp this Friday? Because it’s “Fry-day”, you know?

5. 今年は色んなことにトライしたいな、寅年だけに。
I wanna try various things this year, because it’s “tora (try) doshi” (year of the tiger), you know?

Related Post

If you’re a big fan of dad jokes, see also:

40 Funny Japanese Old Slang Words to Sound like Oyaji (Old Men)

40 Funny Japanese Old Slang Words to Sound like Oyaji (Old Men)

だけに (dake ni) vs だけあって (dake atte)

Difference 1

Both だけに and だけあって mean “especially/particularly because” and highlight a cause/reason for something. However, だけあって is usually used when it describes a reason for a positive outcome, whereas だけに can be used for both positive and negative ones.

(Positive example)

彼は一流大学を卒業しているだけに (or だけあって)、とても頭がいい。
Particularly because he graduated from a top university, he is very smart.

(Negative example)

期待がかなり大きかっただけに (？だけあって)、とてもがっかりな結果だった。
Especially because the expectation was very high, the result was quite disappointing.

Difference 2

Another subtle yet important difference is that だけあって often emphasises the sense that something is worthy of or matches up to one’s reputation or what one claims.

高いだけあって (or だけに)、このスマホはとても使いやすい。
This smartphone is very easy to use and I can understand why it’s expensive (it’s worth the expensive price).

さすが「世界一美味いラーメン」と自分で言うだけあって (？だけに)、とても美味しいね。
As they say “the most delicious ramen in the world” by themselves, it is very tasty.

(In the second sentence, だけに is technically OK but sounds less natural than だけあって; in particular,  “言うだけあって” sounds almost like one phrase due to its strong collocation)

Difference 3

Lastly, だけあって is also used as a verb “だけある”, meaning “match the fact that …” or “No wonder”.

このスマホ使いやすいね。高いだけある。
This smartphone is easy to use. No wonder it’s expensive.