背広 revelation!

So last night at Japanese class we were discussing a sentence which used スーツ (suit), and having just learnt the word 背広, i asked if this word was also used.

先生 then informed me that this word is actually an 当て字‼️ which is from derived from the the place name ‘Saville Row’, famous for its tailors !

I just thought this was such a neat 当て字.

I’m surprised info like this isn’t included in Wanikani -

Anyone got any similarly sneaky kanji combos derived from foreign words ?

D

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Cool cool cool

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Like, 煙草? 珈琲? 基督? Sort of thing?

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YES ! I have never come across any of those before !

I especially like 基督 :slight_smile:

Is 珈琲 often written in kanji form?

edit - just realised it may have sounded like I was professing my love for christ in this post. :joy:

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It’s fairly common, yes, although it’s almost exclusively on store boards or on product packaging. That being said, it can also appear in novels and things like that, based on the feelings of the author.

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Preach it, brother.

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I had heard of this being a big thing in Chinese, but had never experienced any of them in the wilds of japanese (that I know of)
Saville row = suit seems to be quite a stretch so there’s a good chance I know a few of these without making the connection :thinking:

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