literature

Japanese: A lesson on farting

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I figure you won't find many lessons on this topic, so I thought I'd try my hand at making this for y'all.

This lesson is centred on the Japanese word for "fart":

屁 (へ)

The verb "to far" is expressed by using the verb こく/こきます (to let loose) with 屁 as the object:

屁をこく/屁をこきます

ミーティングの時にだれか屁をこいたって、いやでした。
ミーティング の とき に だれか へ を こいた って、 いや でした。
Someone farted during the meeting, and it was gross.

Because of this verb, "farting" in Japanese may be respresented as:

屁こき

Perhaps the most interesting this about 屁, though is the part it plays in a Japanese idiomatic expression:

言い出しっ屁
いいだしっぺ

This term combines the verbs いう (to say) and だす (to put/send out) and へ, and is quite similar in meaning to the English "he who smelt it dealt it" but with an added, less literal meaning. It is defined in Kanji-a-Day's dictionary as: "the one who brought it up; the one who calls attention to a fart is in fact the farter; the one who brings up a subject must be the first to act upon it".

It obviously doesn't appear to be a very formal expression, so be careful with it. Here's an example:

言い出しっぺの人はお前だから、ぜったい行きなさい よ。
いいだしっぺ の 人 は おまえ だから、ぜったい いきなさい よ。
You're the one who brought up the idea, so get going!

That's it. I hope this proves useful.

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Other related vocab:

屁でもない  of no concern; nothing; trivial
屁ひり  farting (synonym of 屁こき in this regard); someone who farts, farter
屁をひる/屁をひります  synonym of 屁をこきます
Choosing a category for this was... Not so easy. It's not really an academic essay, but I could find nothing else.

Anyway, this lesson assumes at least basic Japanese literacy, which includes hiragana and katakana.

Sources: Kanji-a-Day.com, and Jeffrey's Japanese ⇔ English Dictionary
© 2013 - 2024 Kenliano
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