journal features
movie reviews
photo of the day

Japanese double speak

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Tokyo, 2008.01.20

It has recently come to my attention that there are considerably more double-words in Japanese than I'd previously known. Here are some that I now know:

tsuru-tsuru (the feeling that a mineral bath instills)

kari-kari (crisp)

koro-koro (something rolling)

gari-gari (crunching or scratching sound)

gero-gero (sound of a frog)

goro-goro (sound a cat makes)

geri-geri (I think this one is diarrhea)

giri-giri (barely; a close thing, as when catching a train)

puchi-puchi (bubble wrap)

pichi-pichi (young, vivacious in appearance)

ma-ma (same as the English word so-so)

moshi-moshi (greeting on the phone)

chau-chau ("it's not like that" / not authentic)

ten-ten ("dot dot", used when explaining how someone should write a katakana/hiragana character. e.g. the difference between か and が)

Honourable mention goes to:

toki-doki (sometimes)

The ones above are just ones I've heard/used. It turns out that there are a LOT more

rand()m quote

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

—Siddhārtha Gautama (The Buddha)