Late for a Very Important Date: Part 4 of 4
Friday, July 27th, 2007
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In Japan, where they practically time trains down to the second, you might think that nobody’s ever late and that the Japanese wouldn’t need a word for “tardiness.”
Think again! Our old friend 後 (KŌ, GO, ato, ushi(ro): after, behind) provides us with a way to say that. Although 遅れる (okureru) is the main way to write “to be late,” 後れる has the same yomi (okureru) and the same meaning. That’s true, for instance, in this word:
手後 (teoku(re): too late, belated) hand + after
I have no idea how the breakdown (hand + after) relates to the meaning, “too late, belated,” but as long as we’re discussing 手後, here’s a quick quiz.
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Quick Quiz If 手後 means “too late, belated,” what does its inverse mean? Choose from the lettered possibilities below:
a. With one’s hands (tied) behind one’s back |
For an Answer to the Quick Quiz …
Another reading of 後手 is gote (outmaneuvered, passive). Doubling that compound yields gotegote, “ending up behind with everything; always being too late (never in time).” A dire situation indeed!
And if you’re always too late, you’ll certainly be late for the fair. Many people must have been, or else the Japanese wouldn’t have coined this expression:
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Posted by Eve Kushner in Kanji Curiosity | 8 Comments »
