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Gakincho ガキンチョ

nedkelly

後輩
16 Mar 2011
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ガキンチョ means "child" but with not such a good meaning. I am trying to get the correct nuance in English. Is it the equivalent of "brat"?
Apparently ガキンチョ derives from 餓鬼(gaki). What does the "ncho" mean?
Any help would be appreciated.
 
Thank you for the explanation, especially the meaning of "ncho". I guess a literal translation could be "little devil".
 
Hmmm. As close as it is, the problem I have with "little devil" is that it is just shy of a literal translation. When re-translated back you would tend to get "小悪魔" which is indeed a word-for-word translation of little devil, and it carries a significantly different nuance to gakincho.

Literally speaking, 餓鬼んちょ would have to be something like starving devils/monsters (taken from the Buddhist origin). "Urchin" comes close, but its a bit dated, and maybe implies something about class and socioeconomic upbringing that is lacking in the word gakincho. I like the word brat better.
 
ガキンチョ (Gakincho) comes from 餓鬼ん子 (Gakinko). 子 stands for a child or a tiny thing, but it has no specific meaning. ガキンチョ is one of the Japanese slang which is often used when we look down or revile a cheeky kid.

For reference, there is one more expression "クソガキ (Kusogaki)" stronger than ガキンチョ. The meaning of "クソ (Kuso)" is sh*t. That is, F*ckin' kid.
 
Thank you. Just how strong a word is "kuso"? In English "****" is a lot stronger than "****". I thought that "kuso" was rough but not really offensive.
 
Kuso (クソ or 糞) is one of the dirtiest words in Japanese just like s**t or f**k in English. ガキンチョ is a little bit soft expression but Kusogaki (クソガキ・糞餓鬼) is the strongest abusive phrase being full of hate.
 
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