These days I have been enjoying my Japanese classes a lot. My teachers are very kind and they often add some interesting small stories in their daily life besides course materials during class time. Therefore, while learning Japanese as a language, I also got the chance to know many language uses unique to the Japanese culture.
This week we covered a grammar point called “…ほど…”, which means “to a certain extent”. Besides the expressions used commonly across cultures such as “死ぬほど暑い as hot as dying” and “泣き出すほど嬉しい too happy that cries”, I also learned one expression unique in Japan called “猫の手も借りたいほど忙しい”, meaning “too busy that even want to borrow a cat’s hand”. Cat is infamous for breaking things with its sharp nails, and so to borrow a cat’s hand is really adventurous. With this background information, it becomes easy to understand how busy that is. I feel this expression is very cute, because it shows one culture’s close attention to a small animal. Japanese people indeed love cats so much that when making a phrase they first think of cats. Out of interest, I asked my Japanese friends if this phrase is already an old one or is it still used commonly. They told me that they all understand this expression and although it has existed for a long time they think it is cute to use. Japanese people’s love for cats is so strong that on some islands cats even outnumber people.
While chatting in class, we somehow also came across a newly formed expression called ”肉食系” and “草食系”. When translated directly to English, ”肉食系” means carnivorous and “草食系” means herbivorous. My teacher, who was a middle aged woman, told us that these two words were used to describe man when they were first formed. “肉食系” people are more straightforward imprudent. In a love relationship, they are usually more direct in expressing own opinion and like to lead the situation. On the other hand, “草食系” people are more compliant and gentle. They like to move through a relationship slowly. Interestingly, my teacher added that nowadays many people also started to use them more when describing a woman. As the Japanese society become more open, “肉食系” woman grew in number. When I talked to one of my Japanese friends about these new phrases I learned, she was amazed by what my class covered. Besides laughing and discussing about how these two phrases were used on anime characters and in her life (on her classmates), she told me that there is even one more phrase derived from the two, “キャベツ系”. “キャベツ” means cabbage in Japanese. “キャベツ系” describes people who looks like “草食系” at the first glance but is indeed “肉食系”. This kind of people are like cabbage and have multiple personalities.
I like how in Japanese language, the expressions are very specific and lively, as if they contain their own stories. The class becomes more fun with the extra knowledge of these slang words.