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I saw an ad for Indeed today that had a couple tag lines with an あれ at the end, and I don't understand their use:

求人募集【きゅうじんぼしゅう】にサーチあれ。

仕事【しごと】、バイトさがしにサーチあれ。

Normally I'd assume that あれ would be something like して, since サーチ is a n-する verb, but that's obviously not the case here. I know あれ has several meanings, but usually it just means "that". Are these sentences saying "That with which jobs are searched," or is this a separate meaning or colloquialism I'm not familiar with?

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1 Answers1

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Those are pun-based catchphrases for the job search service by the name of サーチ.

First of all, 「あれ」 is the imperative form of 「ある/有る」; therefore, it is a verb. In case someone is wondering, this 「あれ」 has no relation to the 「あれ」("that") as in 「これ/それ/あれ/どれ」.

In fact, the two 「あれ's」 are even pronounced quite differently -- 「あれ{HL}」 for the verb and 「あれ{LH}」 for the demonstrative pronoun.

「Noun + あれ」 means "Let there be [noun]!"

One of the nouns that are most often used in the expression above is 「幸{さち}」 ("happiness"). So, for instance, 「君{きみ}に幸あれ！」 means "Wish you happiness!", "Much happiness to you!", etc. To the newly weds, we often say 「お二人{ふたり}に幸あれ」.

Now, 「サーチ」, as in searching on the internet, sounds sort of like 「幸{さち}」 except for the length of the first syllable, which makes this pun work. You are turning the common phrase 「幸あれ」 into an advertisement catchphrase 「サーチあれ」 for the job search company.

"Let there be Search for recruiting staff!" ←　「求人募集にサーチあれ。」

"Let there be Search for job-hunting!" ←　「仕事、バイトさがしにサーチあれ。」

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  • 今、その利口なシャレが分かります。ありがとうございます。 – bcloutier Mar 18 '18 at 04:47
  • Even more so, it’s turning the entire phrase 「Xにさ[あ]ちあれ」into a pun—instead of 君, the サーチ is wished upon 求人募集 in the same way that happiness is wished upon you. (**Edit:** Oh, you were adding this into your answer as I was commenting.) – Janus Bahs Jacquet Mar 18 '18 at 12:12