＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
(Reference) Original article in Japanese
・日本語の面白い語源・由来（その７）鷹揚、めげる、頓珍漢、ちりとてちんなど
1. Ōyō (鷹揚)
“Ōyō” (鷹揚) means “a relaxed and unhurried manner, like a hawk soaring majestically through the sky, without being bothered by trivial matters,” “a relaxed and dignified manner,” and “a gentle and refined manner.”
“Ōyō” (大様), originally a different word, has a similar meaning. However, “Ōyō” has a negative connotation, meaning “a careless person.”
In addition to the general meanings above, it can also mean “moving slowly” or “making a name for oneself in the world.”
There is a four-character idiom, “Ōyō Jijaku” (鷹揚自若), which is very similar to “Taizen Jijaku” (泰然自若), meaning “a relaxed and calm manner, without being bothered by trivial matters.”
The word “Ōyō” originates from a poem in the “Shijing,” the oldest collection of Chinese poetry. Originally, it meant “a person who is relaxed, dignified, brave, and skilled in martial arts.”
In Japan, the word “takayō” (鷹揚) began to be used from the early modern period (Azuchi-Momoyama to Edo period), but at this point, its original meaning of “excelling in martial arts” was lost, and it came to mean “slow movements,” “achieving success and fame,” and “having dignity and a relaxed demeanor.”
2. Megeru（To give up）
“Megeru” means “to lose spirit, to be defeated, to falter.” It’s used in phrases like “to persevere despite adversity.”
While it’s often used with negative words in modern usage, the word originally comes from the archaic word “megu,” meaning “to break, to be damaged.”
As an aside, Natsume Soseki used the kanji “「負（め）げる」” (megeru) as an ateji（「当て字」） (phonetic equivalent) in his novel “Sanshiro.”
“The rich flesh, nicely colored, seemed undeterred by the strong sunlight…”
3. Tonchinkan（頓珍漢） (absurd/nonsense)
“Tonchinkan” is a kanji representation of the sound of a blacksmith hammering in unison. Because the hammers are always struck alternately and the sounds are never synchronized, it refers to “something that doesn’t make sense; something that is off the mark; or the state of being so,” or “someone who speaks or acts foolishly; or the state of being so foolish or clueless.”
It is a type of onomatopoeia (a word that imitates sounds, voices, or actions).
4. Chiritotechin（ちりとてちん）
This phrase became famous thanks to the NHK morning drama “Chiritotechin.”
“Chiritotechin” is an onomatopoeia for the sound of a shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese instrument). It’s similar to the “konkonchikichin konchikichin” in Gion-bayashi music or the “chin-ton-shan” sound of the shamisen.
The rakugo (traditional Japanese comic storytelling) story “Chiritotechin” is a classic rakugo story that originated in Osaka; in Edo-style rakugo, it’s called “Su-dofu” (vinegared tofu). The story is about a husband who, wanting to teach his know-it-all neighbor a lesson, seasons rotten tofu, names it “Nagasaki specialty Chiritotechin,” and serves it to the neighbor.
The punchline is when the neighbor, asked what it tastes like, replies, “It tastes like rotten tofu.” There’s also a version that continues, “Chiritotechin is best enjoyed in one bite.”
5. Chinpunkanpun (a pun on “strange and nonsensical”)
珍紛漢紛（ちんぷんかんぷん）
“Chinpunkanfun” is a word created by repeating “pun” in “chinpunkan” to make it sound more rhythmic.
“Chinpunkan” is a word that became widely used during the Edo period. It is believed to be a neologism created by people of that time who lacked education, either by mocking the difficult Chinese words used by Confucian scholars or by mimicking the speech of foreigners.
To me, it feels like a very well-crafted onomatopoeia (a word that imitates actions) that expresses the meaning of “I don’t understand it at all.”
Incidentally, there are two Chinese words, “chimputong,” meaning “I don’t understand it even if I hear it,” and “kamputong,” meaning “I don’t understand it even if I see it.” There is a theory that “chinpunkanfun” originated from these two words.
However, considering that “chinpunkanpun” originally meant a situation where one couldn’t understand the words at all, and that it spread among uneducated people, this theory seems unnatural and far-fetched.
6. Yukata（「浴衣（ゆかた）」）
A “yukata,” as the phrase “yukata beauty” suggests, is a type of kimono that creates a cool and refreshing look for women during the hot summer months. While men rarely wear yukata these days, except perhaps for musicians at the Gion Festival, it was once common to see men in yukata.
The word “yukata” originates from a type of kimono called a “yukatabira,” used during the Heian and Edo periods.
In the Heian period, baths were “steam baths,” not baths where people soaked in a bathtub as we do today. The “yukatabira” was made of thin linen and is said to have been used to prevent burns in the steam bath.
Around the Azuchi-Momoyama period, when the custom of bathing naked emerged, the yukatabira became a garment worn after bathing to absorb moisture from the skin.
In the Edo period, with the spread of cotton, more absorbent cotton kimonos replaced linen fabrics, and the yukatabira became widely popular among ordinary people as “kimono for after bathing.”
This became the basis for the modern “yukata,” and its name also changed from “yukatabira” to “yukata.”