<p>Im very sorry that I accidentally tripped over this strand because now I feel obligated to contribute. When I was a pre-medical undergraduate at a small United Methodist liberal arts college in the late 1970's, I competed in intercollegiate athletics. We were obligated to "say grace" before a team meal, so this line was part of our team prayer. The full blessing was:</p>

<p>"Rub a dub dub, Thanks for the grub, Yea God! Amen!"</p>

<p>I hope this contribution rgarging the linguistic history of this irreverent ritual is helpful to this most fascinating discussion.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-07T12:52:16.760Z
2017-05-07T12:52:16.760Z
Jay Stanley
<p><a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/26507/1908">HamtaroWarrior's claims</a> that it doesn't have much to do with anime and that "It just seems to be a way to translate "Itadakimsu"." [sic] miss the point. </p>

<p>There is, in fact, a clear anime-related reason that "rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub" has become emblematic of over-localized translation: the abortive [gg] fansub of <em>Toradora!!</em> back in 2008 featured this very line as a translation of Minori's "<em>itadakimasu</em>" in episode 4 (around 08:52). This is an absurdly over-the-top translation choice, as any American could attest - Minori is certainly a cheerful and quirky character, but this goes well beyond that.</p>

<p>This was widely hailed as <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:EGWwaDhreP8J:https://archive.moe/a/thread/15831373%20&amp;cd=1&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us" rel="noreferrer">an innovation in trollsubbing</a> on [gg]'s part, and was one of the factors that cemented their reputation as the leading trollsubbers of their time. I mentioned that the fansub was abortive - indeed, <a href="http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=50209#msg1980927" rel="noreferrer">[gg] stopped subbing <em>Toradora!!</em> after episode 4</a>, and I guess they decided to go out with a bang (all of the relevant blog posts I'd like to cite appear to have bitrotted out of existence, unfortunately). I emphasize this again - almost surely nobody actually thought that "rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub" was a good choice here. Rather, it was presumably chosen to get a rise out of its viewers (and succeeded quite well at it!).</p>

<p>It is as a <em>result</em> of this particular incident that images like <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/cIkD9.jpg" rel="noreferrer">this one</a> exist (the "gg" column, at least). Likewise, the <em>Sasami-san@Ganbaranai</em> image in the question is a deliberate "homage" (if you can call it that) to [gg]'s <em>Toradora!!</em> subs of auld.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-08T23:44:30.670Z
Well this is my bad, didn't find those details in 3 hours of net digginng :\
Ikaros
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-10T14:36:21.780Z
I could swear Tomo says it in the official English dub of Azumanga Daioh, but am not having luck tracking down a clip.....
Clockwork-Muse
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-08T23:38:59.573Z
2015-10-08T23:38:59.573Z
2017-04-13T12:54:48.953Z
senshin
<p>Occasionally I've seen <em>"itadakimasu"</em> translated as <strong>Rub a dub dub, Thanks for the grub</strong>. </p>

<p>Most often it's used as an joking example of subbing/dubbing that doesn't stick strictly to the original Japanese script.</p>

<p>Where does it come from though? Was there a show that actually translated it as such?</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/CMS2Cm.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/CMS2Cm.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a>
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/6jhUpm.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/6jhUpm.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-08T14:53:51.227Z
I doubt it.  This may be more of a language thing than a meme really, since that phrase is commonplace [enough] in America, but *itadakimasu* has entirely different connotations.
Makoto
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-08T16:12:44.500Z
If I'm remembering right, "Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub" comes from a deliberate trollsub circa the late '00s. Don't remember the details off-hand, though; I'll go internet-spelunking later.
senshin
<meme>
Rub a dub dub, Thanks for the grub
# Rub a dub dub, Thanks for the grub
Posted by: username_0 on 2015-10-08
Occasionally I've seen *"itadakimasu"* translated as **Rub a dub dub, Thanks for the grub**.

Most often it's used as an joking example of subbing/dubbing that doesn't stick strictly to the original Japanese script.

Where does it come from though? Was there a show that actually translated it as such?

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/CMS2Cm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/CMS2Cm.jpg)
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/6jhUpm.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/6jhUpm.png)
**Tags:** meme
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I doubt it.  This may be more of a language thing than a meme really, since that phrase is commonplace [enough] in America, but *itadakimasu* has entirely different connotations.  
> **username_2**: If I'm remembering right, "Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub" comes from a deliberate trollsub circa the late '00s. Don't remember the details off-hand, though; I'll go internet-spelunking later.  
---
## 2 answers
### Answer by username_2 on 2015-10-08. Score: 9 | Accepted answer
[HamtaroWarrior's claims](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/26507/1908) that it doesn't have much to do with anime and that "It just seems to be a way to translate "Itadakimsu"." [sic] miss the point.

There is, in fact, a clear anime-related reason that "rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub" has become emblematic of over-localized translation: the abortive [gg] fansub of *Toradora!!* back in 2008 featured this very line as a translation of Minori's "*itadakimasu*" in episode 4 (around 08:52). This is an absurdly over-the-top translation choice, as any American could attest - Minori is certainly a cheerful and quirky character, but this goes well beyond that.

This was widely hailed as [an innovation in trollsubbing](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:EGWwaDhreP8J:https://archive.moe/a/thread/15831373%20&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us) on [gg]'s part, and was one of the factors that cemented their reputation as the leading trollsubbers of their time. I mentioned that the fansub was abortive - indeed, [[gg] stopped subbing *Toradora!!* after episode 4](http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=50209#msg1980927), and I guess they decided to go out with a bang (all of the relevant blog posts I'd like to cite appear to have bitrotted out of existence, unfortunately). I emphasize this again - almost surely nobody actually thought that "rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub" was a good choice here. Rather, it was presumably chosen to get a rise out of its viewers (and succeeded quite well at it!).

It is as a *result* of this particular incident that images like [this one](https://i.sstatic.net/cIkD9.jpg) exist (the "gg" column, at least). Likewise, the *Sasami-san@Ganbaranai* image in the question is a deliberate "homage" (if you can call it that) to [gg]'s *Toradora!!* subs of auld.
> **Comments:**
> **username_4** (2015-10-08): Well this is my bad, didn't find those details in 3 hours of net digginng :\  
> **username_5** (2015-10-10): I could swear Tomo says it in the official English dub of Azumanga Daioh, but am not having luck tracking down a clip.....  
---
### Answer by username_3 on 2017-05-07. Score: 0
Im very sorry that I accidentally tripped over this strand because now I feel obligated to contribute. When I was a pre-medical undergraduate at a small United Methodist liberal arts college in the late 1970's, I competed in intercollegiate athletics. We were obligated to "say grace" before a team meal, so this line was part of our team prayer. The full blessing was:

"Rub a dub dub, Thanks for the grub, Yea God! Amen!"

I hope this contribution rgarging the linguistic history of this irreverent ritual is helpful to this most fascinating discussion.
---
