People confused over claims Mario doesn’t actually say ‘it’s a me’

Mario and his adventures alongside pals Luigi, Princess Peach, and Bowser are pure 90s nostalgia.

The dungaree-donning plumber is synonymous with Nintendo, as are his famous catchphrases. But lately, one such catchphrase has been the topic of much debate online.

In August 2024, claims began to surface on social media sites like Reddit, X and TikTok that Mario doesn't actually say "It's-a-me, Mario."

Instead, some people claim the popular video game character says "Itsumi Mario," which they further claim is him actually saying 'Super Mario' in Japanese.

One Facebook user said in a post that has since been deleted that 'itsumi' translates to 'great or superb' in Japanese, adding: "So he's really just saying super Mario."

Considering Super Mario is the name of a popular game series within the Mario franchise, the idea doesn't seem too farfetched, and others have since jumped on it.

People have been left baffled following claims that Mario doesn't actually say "It's-a-me, Mario" (Nintendo UK)

An Instagram user posted a video in March, which was captioned: "I was today years old when I found out he doesn't say 'It's-a-me Mario..." he actually says "Itsumi Mario."

And hundreds of people took to the comments to share their confusion, as one person wrote: "Omg my whole childhood was a lie."

Another said: "I didn't know. Today I learned new Japanese word," while a third said they'd 'ruined Mario for me'.

However, while the claim has gone viral online, it turns out it's just another case of internet misinformation.

To start, Nintendo's website always refers to the catchphrase as 'It's-a-me, Mario' and never 'Itsumi Mario', fact-checking site Snopes says.

And, the company has previously sold a 'It's-A-Mario™! Figure' on its online store, with the figure's product description reading: "Kids of all ages will have endless fun with the 12-inch tall Mario™, packed with over 30 phrases and sound effects from the games. Included the voice of Mario with iconic phrases like 'woo-hoo,' 'it's-a-me' and many others."

There are also multiple references to the catchphrase across the Nintendo website in several countries, Snopes adds.

And the voice actor behind Mario, Charles Martinet, even has "It's a me" featured in both his Instagram bio and username.

However, claims that he actually says "Itsumi Mario" have since been proven to be false (Nintendo)

From a language perspective, 'itsumi' in Japanese doesn't even mean 'super', instead it is a surname. If you wanted to say something was 'super', then you'd say 'subarashi', which is a formal term that commonly translates to 'superb' or 'wonderful', or 'sugoi' if you are feeling casual.

With all that in mind, we can be pretty certain that the 'Itsumi Mario' claims are categorically false but where exactly did they come from?

X (formerly Twitter) user 'The Fruehwald' told Snopes that he 'may have been the originator' of the social media rumours.

He said that a number of posts popped up online after he shared a post reading: "Mario is a Japanese character, so his family name is obviously Itsumi, or in Japanese name order, Itsumi Mario," back in September 2021.

Prior to his post, there were no earlier claims that Mario said "Itsumi Mario."

But it was never meant to be taken seriously, as he told Snopes: "I wasn't trying to plant the seeds of an urban legend. I just thought it was a good post, and an obvious language based joke.

Maybe we should take this as yet another sign to stop believing everything we read online...