Using Japanese Slang. Anne Kasschau
in aitsu wa ikareteru (he's acting like a thug), and to be an idiot as in kare wa ikareteru (he's a moron).
Now, we'd like to introduce some terms that sound like the male names Yotarō, Santarō, Fūtarō, and Tōshirō, but actually connote further meanings. The use of names to imply something else is common in many languages. A John, in English, for example, is used to mean the toilet as well as a prostitute's customer. A cuppa joe is a cup of coffee. And a lulu is an astounding person or thing.
One term derived from a name comes from Japan's sports world. Dozaemon is a synonym for the victim of a drowning. It seems that in the Edo era there was an enormously fat sumo wrestler by the name of Dozaemon Naruse, whose swollen body and vast white expanse of stomach reminded people of a drowned person. Although most Japanese today don't know the origin of this term, they use it more frequently than the legal term dekishisha (deki is drowned, shi is death, and sha is person). There are, incidentally, four ways of talking about drowning in Japanese: dozaemon ni naru, oboreru, dekishi suru, and suishi suru.
Yotarō sounds like an ordinary man's name, but it has taken on another meaning over time. Yotarō is a favorite character in rakugo, traditional comic storytelling. In classic rakugo, Yotarō always appears as an innocently simple fool, his sole purpose being to cause great amusement among the audience. Thus the word yotarō has come to be a near synonym for a young baka manuke (blockhead or dunce). The shortened form yota is used to mean stupidity, or a useless person or thing.
Yota banashi (hanashi is story, changed euphonically to banashi) and yota-mono are derivatives of yotarō. The former can be translated as nonsense or unreliable talk, and the latter as hoodlum or gangster. Thus yota banashi shinai de means don't talk nonsense, yota o tobasu (tobasu means let fly) means to talk nonsense, and kare wa yotamon(o) da means he's a hoodlum. Yotamon and yotako are variations of yota-mono, the latter being a derogatory word for yakuza and other rough characters.
Yotaru and yotatte iru are derivative verbs meaning to act like a hoodlum. Yakuza and gurentai, however, are more up-to-date words for gangsters than yotamono. This will be discussed in more detail later.
Santarō also sounds like an ordinary name. San is three, and, literally translated, santarō means third son. But it's understood in a broader sense as a half-wit. This is because it's said in Japan that the first and third sons tend to be rather foolish, while the second son, more often than not, is the clever one. Thus o-baka santarō means a dunderhead or a real horse's ass.
Fūtarō (fu being an alternative pronunciation of the character for kaze, or wind) means an insignificant person, someone who just blows in the wind and disappears as effortlessly as a spring breeze. Contemporary variations of this word, such as pūtarō, will be explained in the chapter on young people's language.
Tōshirō used to be a very common man's name in Japan. It is used now, however, with the sense of amateur or non-professional. Tōshirō derives from the word shirōto (amateur), which is used particularly in connection with the arts and professions. The two kanji with which shirōto is written are those for simple and person. When written with a different character, shiro means white and carries implications of pure and innocent. Shiro's opposite kuro, on the other hand, also can be written with several different kanji. These bear connotations of black, accomplishment, or mystery, depending on the character used.
Several word plays take advantage of these homonyms. Diametrically opposite to shirōto is kurōto (kuro is black), which means a person who is accomplished, particularly in the arts and crafts, a professional, prostitute, or bar hostess. When a defendant is found not guilty, for example, he or she is called shiro, while kuro is used for someone found guilty. Aitsu wa shiro da to omou, then, means I think that guy is innocent.
The reason that shirōto became tōshirō is really quite simple. The Japanese, particularly gangsters and entertainers, have a habit of inverting words to create a secret language. Gangsters, for example, refer to women (onna) as naon. And hiikō is often used instead of kōhii (coffee). You can use tōshirō or tōshirō as in aitsu wa honto ni tōshirō da (he really doesn't know what he's doing). And when you add the emphatic prefix do-, it becomes the even more contemptuous doshirōto, ne (you're a real amateur).
Yoppara-Related
Nonbei is another word that sounds like a name, but it means a habitual drinker or drunkard. It comes from the verb nomu (to drink) and the suffix-bei, which in the past was commonly attached to men's names. Nonbei can be used when speaking of either men or women, however. Nomisuke is a synonym (-suke is also a suffix sometimes attached to Japanese men's names). Ō-zakenomi (sake is Japanese rice wine and o-means big) is a boozer, and uwabami (python) is a heavy drinker. Nondakure is a constant drunk, sometimes a bum, while sakebitari is to indulge in drinking. The bitari here comes from the verb hitaru with a euphonic change, meaning to be soaked or immersed in.
In the fall of 1993, some shocking news (shocking for Japan, that is) was reported by Kurihama National Hospital. Japanese under 20 are legally prohibited from drinking; nevertheless, it was found that 14% of high school students (age 15 to 18) consume alcohol one or more times a week.
There are various reasons for this. Unlike in Europe and North America, there are vending machines nationwide in Japan where alcohol can be easily purchased by those underage without any ID check, though the machines are expected to be closed down at 11 P.M.
As of 1990, the number of alcohol vending machines reached 200,000 (one per 600 persons), 70% of them selling beer. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has asked retailers to exercise restraint in this matter, but the Ministry of Finance is not too enthusiastic about it since the machines are a lucrative source of tax revenue. Recently there has been serious criticism of this state of affairs, and plans to remove alcohol and cigarette vending machines have been carried out at the local level.
Sake is sometimes called kichigai mizu (literally, crazy water), and is thought to paralyze a part of the brain and create a condition of stupidity. Shirafu (literally, white face) means sober. This is because the Japanese characteristically become very red in the face when they drink.
Horo-yoi means tipsy. Here how means a little, and yoi means to become drunk. Ippai kigen can also be translated as tipsy, with ippai meaning one glass and kigen meaning humor or mood.
Yopparai is used when tipsiness passes into drunkenness. It is similar to nonbei, but more colloquial. Also, while nonbei describes a habitual drinker, yopparai can describe someone who occasionally gets drunk. It comes from the verb yopparau, meaning to get very drunk or sloshed, which, in turn, is derived from the verb you. You has three interpretations: to get drunk, to get sea-sick, and to be fascinated by music, etc. If you call someone yopparai in an angry tone, it's equivalent to saying you goddam drunk, get out of here.
Jogō is a tippler. It can be used in compounds, such as warai-jogō (a happy drunk), naki-jogō (a maudlin drinker), and okori-jogō (a mean drunk).
Geko is a bad or weak drinker. It can also mean a teetotaler. It is always used by itself, never in compounds.
Strong drinkers are generally called hidari-tō (literally, left-handed party). Hidari comes from the word for left, as in left-handed, and implies people who want to continue drinking so badly that they will drink with their left hand, while using their right to eat simultaneously.
Geko are thought of so contempuously that they are called ama-tō (lovers of sweets). Ama comes from amai mono (sweets), and tō means party or faction. Ama-tō are often regarded as buchōhō (impolite, awkward, or unccomplished). An antonym for ama-tō is kara-tō (literally, hot and dry), which is also used to refer to a drinker.
Japanese people often inquire as to whether their guests can drink or not by asking ikeru kuchi desu ka? (ikeru means literally to be able to go, but can also mean to be nice or good). When one says kono sake wa ikeru, it means the sake is not bad, with the connotation that it's actually good. Ikenai-kuchi is similar to geko and buchōhō.
One reason why most of the so-called geko don't drink is that Japanese people tend to get red (akaku naru) in the face when they drink. Thus, akaku naru kara nomanai is a favorite excuse for declining a drink, used especially by young women.
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