iPhone's Siri Voice Assistant Sounds Like 'Ass' in Japanese

Apple's voice recognition software for iOS 5, Siri, closely resembles the Japanese word for "ass," shiri [ h/t +Mike Elgan ]. 

"This will no doubt make the iPhone 4s very popular in Japan," Mike writes. "I can just see people talking about this tomorrow: 'Hey, did you hear about the new ass technology in iPhone?'" 

Commenters on Google+ are having a field day with it.

"LMAO! Very cute, very cute. I love it," +L. Gray writes. "And now, I'm hungry for a piece of iPhone ass........... I mean siri........... :P"

Another user, +Jerrin SciReal Bennett, compares Apple's slip-up to General Motors' Chevrolet Nova campaign in Central and South America. "No va" means "it doesn't go" in Spanish.

"You would think international companies would learn from the Nova campaign," he writes. 

Another user, +Doriano Paisano Carta, writes, "are you siri-ass?!!!" 

See our video coverage of the "Let's Talk iPhone" event here and hilarious user reactions to CEO Tim Cook's announcements here.