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I have been watching Fate/Stay Night, the Unlimited Blade Works one. In this
particular episode, as Shirou (male character) tells other characters that
Saber (female character) will stay at his place, they are very surprised and
use the word `同居{どうきょ}`.

The subtitles I have used the word "shack up" to translate that idiom.
However, in English "shack up" has a sexual
[connotation](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/shack+up) :

>   1. To live together and have sexual relations without being married.
>   2. To live, room, or stay at a place
>

However, in Japanese it does not [seem
so](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/thsrs/6556/m0u/) :

>
> 「同居」は、家族が一緒に同じ家に住むことをいうが、家族でない人が、その家族の家に一緒に住む場合にもいう。また、部屋を借りて友達や兄弟などと一緒に住む場合にもいう。

But as the other protagonists are quite shocked at this, and that Fate/Stay
Night is after all based on an erotic game, does 同居 carry a sexual connotation
in colloquial Japanese ? Or is it just poor translation ?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-26T09:29:30.807
22966
2015-02-26T15:45:57.133
3614
question
word-choice colloquial-language
Does 同居 have a sexual connotation?
Your observations are correct. 同居 does not necessarily imply sexual relations.
For example 両親と同居する, 兄と同居する, and so on are perfectly natural.

同棲 (or 同せい since 棲 is not in the Joyo kanji list) is the one that does imply
having sexual relations without getting married. 両親と同棲する is incorrect.

Of course, 俺と同居しよう or 俺と一緒に住もう would be actually understood as a proposal for
同棲 or even marriage in great many cases, especially when this is said between
a young man and a woman. I don't know the story of _Fate_ , so I can't judge
if it was a bad translation.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-26T12:53:09.043
22968
2015-02-26T15:45:57.133
2015-02-26T15:45:57.133
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answer