Not a single day goes by without Japanese cat owners parading their furry companions on Twitterand, well, we love it. With more than 9,526,000 pet cats registered in 2017, it’s safe to assume that Japan is absolutely mad about cats.
Let’s take a minute to learn the etymology of the Japanese word for cat, 猫. The old word for “neko” is “nekoma,” which combines the onomatopoeia for the sound cats make, にゃand こまmeaning “four-legged animal.”
The left radical of the kanji is easy peasy to remember. ⺨means beast and is also associated with dogs. The right part, however, requires a little bit more insight since 苗has nothing to do with our feline friends but actually means “seedling” or “sapling.”
First, we already know that Kanji are of Chinese origin. Second, in China, cats go “miao” or “mao.” 苗’s Chinese reading is みょう. So if you haven’t guessed by now, 猫, in China, means the “beast that makes a meow sound.” Add that to your list of fun facts to break out at a party!
Surprise!
When you hear a noise coming from inside your walls, you’d expect it to be a rat or mouse snuggling in your insulation waiting until the cover of night to hunt for leftover cheese.
When @d_e_heffun heard something coming from behind the wall, he bravely took it upon himself to investigate and made quite a surprising discovery!
みたいなの。
ネットでしかたことのい話だが、、
まさかがののからこんながてこようとは…。
ちなみにのです。
Sounds like a fake “true story,” like the ones you read on the internet but never see in real life. I can’t believe this kind of thing would appear from the walls of our house. By the way, it happened last night.
Say again?
The suffix っけis a simple expression you should have in your Nihongo bank to help you hold natural and casual conversations in Japanese. Simply put, っけcomes in to end a sentence when you’re asking about something you’re supposed to know, but can’t seem to recall.
っけoften ends a question you’re asking yourself, but it can also be used casually when addressing other people and asking them to confirm the information.
Most of the time, っけis used with だ(a casual form of the copula です) and the past たform.
- 何でしたっけ。= What was it again?
- だっけ。= What time was it again?
- これでいいんだっけ。= Is it ok like this?
- きだっけ？= Do you like natto?
Otsukaresama desu! You studied hard today. Just for giggles here’s a selection of recent hilarious kitty tweets to brighten up your Saturday.
Catception
おわかりいただけただろうか = Got it?
Taskenyaaaa!!
どうしてそうなったのw = How did that happen?! LOL
Evry damn tiem!
かとったらのだった = Was wondering what this was when I realized it’s my ears.
Dat salaryman pose tho
れなかったサラリーマン = Salaryman who missed the last train
Cat or cow?
がてきた = A cat appeared
Not a fan of fluffy neko-chan? Here’s a super cute Shiba Inuinstead.
どのセーブデータだっけ = Which save file was it again?
Vocabulary
嘘 uso lie みたい mitai like (looks like, is similar to) 本当 hontou real 話 hanashi story ネット上で netto jyou de on the internet しか shika only 見る miru see まさか masaka no way! 我が家の wagayano our home, one’s home 壁の中から kabe no naka kara from inside the wall ちなみに chinami ni by the way 昨日 kinou yesterday おわかりいただけただろうか o wakari itadaketa darouka Got it?/Did you understand? どうしてそうなったの doushite sou natta no How did that happen? w LOL Japanese text speak for laughter, LOL 思う omou to think 自分の jibun no one’s own 耳 mimi ear 定時 teiji on time 帰宅 kitaku come back home サラリーマン sarariiman “salaryman”, businessman 終電 shuuden last train (of the day) 乗れる noreru to board (the train) 出る deru come out どの dono which セーブデータ seebu deeta saved data
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- Learn Japanese with our original study materials on GaijinPot Study
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