About
“Commit Sudoku” is an intentional misspelling of the phrase “commit seppuku”, which instead of committing suicide by disemboweling, means doing a Sudoku puzzle.
Origin
Seppuku[1] (stomach-cutting in Japanese), also known as harakiri, is a ritual suicide practiced by the Japanese samurais. It involves plunging a dagger or a tanto into their belly, while another samurai beheads him. It was used as a method for the samurai to die an honorable death, or as a punishment for the disgraced.
On the Internet however, the term is often confused with Sudoku, a number placement puzzle, popularized by a Japanese puzzle company Nikoli[2].
Spread
In September 7th, 2006, a YTMND page was created named “DISTURBING! Japanese Girl Committing Sudoku”[4], where an asian girl is solving a Sudoku puzzle. The same year, in October 31st, another YTMND page, named “I order you to commit Sudoku”[3] came up, involving a photoshopped picture of seppuku in progress (picture below).
In March 13th, 2012, an Urban Dictionary user Synchronous Failure submitted the following definition[5] of the word “Sudoku”:
On online message boards, particularly 4chan’s /v/, people mix the word for Japanese ritual suicide, “seppuku,” with “sudoku.” The typo has since spread and became adopted in a similar fashion to “pwn” in regards to “own.”
Notable Examples
(Work in Progress)