The Globe will teach you language skills

From here

Jeff Yamaguchi, who serves as Hideki Okajima's translator, was interpreting for the reliever last weekend and said Okajima had thrown a "cookie," a common expression used by English-speaking pitchers to describe a fat pitch. Yamaguchi insisted that Okajima had employed the Japanese equivalent for cookie. "Amai [pronounced ah-MY] means sweet," Yamaguchi said. "Tama is ball. So when you say 'amai tama,' you're saying 'sweet ball.' " In other words, a cookie.

Previously on "The Globe will teach you language skills": "Wank"