Secrets of the “Secret” Kanji: Part 2
Friday, March 28th, 2008
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In English, we speak of “airtight excuses.” This is a strange idiom. “Airtight” means something so impermeable that air cannot pass in or out of it. But how could air pass in or out of an excuse? Are we talking about hot air? No, I think the point isn’t actually the air; the point is the sturdiness of the excuse. It’s so solid that you can’t poke a hole in it, deflating it like a flimsy balloon. Oh, dear, we’re back to air. Well, so be it.
If you’ve confided your most scandalous secrets to a friend, you might hope for something similarly airtight—a hermetic seal around those secrets. Here’s how you can say “airtight” in Japanese:
気密 (kimitsu: airtight) air + tight
At first glance, this compound might seem to be about secrecy. As we saw last week, 密 (MITSU) can mean “secret,” as well as “dense” and “detailed.” But there’s actually another meaning; as a suffix, -密 can mean “tight.” That’s the case above, as well as in the next, unusual word:
油密 (yumitsu: oil tight (seal, joint, etc.)) oil + tight
It’s tempting to read this as “the secret of oil,” which might mean “the secret location of oil under a vast desert” or something politically hard-edged. But 油密 is again about a hermetic seal, one that keeps oil in place.
If you’re looking for words in which 密 does mean “secret,” you needn’t despair. (Were you despairing? I couldn’t tell. Given the strange medium in which we’re conversing, your feelings seem inscrutable, as if you’ve protected them with a hermetic seal. From time to time, you might consider breaking the seal, much as a character jumped off the movie screen in The Purple Rose of Cairo, interacting with the audience. I might enjoy some company on this side of the screen. Did you ever stop to think of that?)
Sorry … got a bit off track there. At any rate, let’s look at 密 as “secret.”
We’ve already seen one kimitsu (気密). Here’s another:
機密 (kimitsu: secrecy; highly classified information)
occasion + secret
| “A neurosis is a secret that you don’t know you are keeping.” —Kenneth Tynan |
Except for neuroses (!), secrets are terribly alluring, aren’t they? Secret gardens, secret paths, secret ingredients…. Something in our nature makes us long to know whatever we’re not supposed to know! In that case, this word should be particularly tantalizing:
最高機密 (saikōkimitsu: top secret)
most (1st 2 chars.) + secrecy (last 2 chars.)As you likely know, 最高 (saikō) expresses a superlative: “the most,” “the highest,” and so on.
Here’s the ultimate in secrets, the ultimate (最高の）word with 密:
密々 (mitsumitsu: secretly; privately) secret + secret
Seems as if this should mean “top secret,” as well, but instead the repetition of the character (an adjective) somehow creates an adverb!
I’ll let you in on a secret: it’s time for today’s Verbal Logic Quiz!
Posted by Eve Kushner in Kanji Curiosity |
March 29th, 2008 at 3:53 am
I’ve finally added a feature to this blog that I’ve been meaning to add for ages. If you click on “The Basics” (the 2nd link in the Quick Links box above), then scroll to the bottom, you’ll see a list of books/sources to which I frequently refer in these blogs. For instance, I often mention “Spahn,” “Breen,” “Halpern,” etc. in shorthand, as if everyone knows what I’m talking about! But maybe it hasn’t been so clear. Anyway, now I hope it will be.
March 29th, 2008 at 4:27 am
Hi Eve,
Another great Blog. When I think of air tight, I think of the mask of a scuba diver.
Have a great weekend.
Marv
March 29th, 2008 at 4:39 am
Thanks, Marv! Yes, I’m sure an airtight scuba mask would be a definite plus!
April 1st, 2008 at 5:37 am
Many people seem to complain about the gruelling task of learning kanji, but I spend many a long bus journey/English lesson/hot bath poring over my (comparatively) wee “Kanji Learner’s Dictionary”, following chains of meaning and making satisfying little discoveries ad infinitum. I dream of the day when I have as many dictionaries as yourself, although alas I may have some trouble hauling them around in the above situations. I’m hoping to read Japanese Studies next year, and I’m planning on exploring your idea of “green tea and Mark Spahn” in great depth. Thank you for this jewel of a blog.
Shu
April 1st, 2008 at 7:43 am
Hi, Shu. Thanks for the really great comment!
“I dream of the day when I have as many dictionaries as yourself, although alas I may have some trouble hauling them around in the above situations.”
Ha ha ha! Yes, I can imagine!!! You know, I lug Spahn, Halpern, and Henshall home from the office every weekend, and then back to the office again on Mondays. This could very well be why my neck is so sore! And did you know there’s a great word related to dictionaries and necks? Here it is: 首っ引き (kubippiki: constantly referring to a dictionary) [neck + pull]
I’m pleased that you’ve found so much pleasure in kanji! Then again, how could you not?! Don’t forget about the “garden” part of the green tea + Spahn equation!!! You’ll be in heaven, I promise!
April 1st, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Thank you for your wonderful blogs! I’ve been enjoying them and studying by them for a while.
I’m afraid you are not out of the morass of buttocks usage with the wet verb 漏らす (morasu). I teach at an elementary school in Japan and every now and then I hear this about a child: お漏らしした (Omorashi shita). Yep, it’s the common way to say, “He wet his pants.”
Looking forward to more secrets or melons or whatever interests you!
Kelly
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:32 am
That’s absolutely hilarious, Kelly!!! Thanks so much for sharing that! And thanks for the really nice comment!
April 5th, 2008 at 3:34 am
When I saw Kelly’s sentence, お漏らしした (Omorashi shita), I felt confused, because the syntax (o- plus -masu stem + suru) matches “humble” speech … but why would a teacher use humble speech when talking about a child who wet his pants?
I asked a Japanese native speaker. He has a hunch that this expression isn’t humble speech but rather polite Japanese (of the desu/-masu variety) with the respectful o- thrown in to make this expression more elegant (i.e., less crude). He wrote, “I further speculate that ‘o’ is particularly favored when referring to something dirty. The presence of ‘o’ has a kind of neutralizing function.”
Guess that explains why Japanese people say お尻 (o-shiri) when referring to rear ends! I’ve always wondered that!