Danger + Opportunity
Jan. 7th, 2003 11:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tmcgThe Kanji SITE speaks for me regarding kanji compounds.
I get lost in the kanji dictionary. I thought I was bad with Webster's Third Unabridged and the Encyclopedia Britannica. Dip in for a second and two hours go by. One thing leads to another.
Some compounds have annoying cultural implications: "woman" and "child" makes another word for "woman." Some are sad: "dog" plus "die" means "die in vain" ("die a dog's death"). Some are intriguing: "hemp/flax" plus "be intoxicated" is "anaesthesia." (Reminds me of a 1950s Irish Gaelic tape I used. Trip to the dentist. "Will it hurt, Doctor?" "No, cocaine makes it painless." Those were the days.) Yet what a thrill to realize that with two kanji I know, "nose" and "water," I can write "nasal mucus." Mmm mmm good.
I get lost in the kanji dictionary. I thought I was bad with Webster's Third Unabridged and the Encyclopedia Britannica. Dip in for a second and two hours go by. One thing leads to another.
Some compounds have annoying cultural implications: "woman" and "child" makes another word for "woman." Some are sad: "dog" plus "die" means "die in vain" ("die a dog's death"). Some are intriguing: "hemp/flax" plus "be intoxicated" is "anaesthesia." (Reminds me of a 1950s Irish Gaelic tape I used. Trip to the dentist. "Will it hurt, Doctor?" "No, cocaine makes it painless." Those were the days.) Yet what a thrill to realize that with two kanji I know, "nose" and "water," I can write "nasal mucus." Mmm mmm good.
