Monday, March 06, 2006

ちゃけど follow-up

A friend pointed out that some comments had been left regarding this word. I must hang my head in shame and admit I usually don't read the comments because I never thought anyone read my blog... :(

BUT

I'm perfectly happy to answer any questions. In the future, it would be quickest to email me directly using the link that blogger provides because I check my email like a crack addict.

ちゃけど is very much a female kind of word I think. That doesn't mean that men don't use it - but if you do use it, you probably pick up a kind of feminine twist to your speech. In Japan today, I find that males and females are both equally interested in femininity which is not to say that Japanese men are gay, but their fashion sense tends towards things that I don't perceive as masculine. There are a number of articles about fashion at online news sites like daily yomiuri and asahi news where you can check up on my opinion if you want. It is only my opinion - I have no way to factually certify such a statement.

ちゃけど may or may not be a local dialect. I have travelled to nearly every major city in Japan at least once, lived in Kyushu and the Kansai area for extended periods of time, and I cannot tell you for sure if I've only heard this word in Fukuoka or not. It seems to me that there were definitely some friends up in the Kansai area who spoke like this, but I didn't record it at the time to prove it unfortunately :(

More than a local dialect, I would say that ちゃけど likely has a style associated with it. For example, any who has been to Japan has seen 3 major categories of girls as far as I divide them. The oneeke/gyeru girls which wear nothing that isn't brand name, pastel in the spring or earthy in the fall, and have a handbag for each day of the year. The closet explosion girls who seem to walk into a closet each morning and walk out with whatever is clinging to them including mismatched shoes. The professionals who range from young women just entering the work force to those nearing retirement. There are degress of each as I see it, and smaller categories like grunge, punk, goth, otaku, and the like, but this is how I separate all Japanese style in my head after long experience with students and just walking around the city.

So this word ちゃけど belongs more to the cutsy prim and proper girls that really put effort into being cute. You can see these girls on TV shows all the time, and a lot of people that I have met really buy-in to this fake cuteness, but it makes me gag.

Anyway - I can feel a longer rant coming on, and I would like to avoid that.

Rather than dialect, just think of it as demographic-specific slang. Another example word that I've heard which is definitely not dialect is "おやちゅうみ” where the person in question was trying to be as cute as they could be my merging the word kiss (チュウ/チュ) with おやすみ as they said goodnight.

That's the kind of makes-me-want-to-gag Japanese that ちゃけど comes from, only ちゃけど isn't nearly as gagtastic.

I hope that clears up any questions.

Feel free to email me in the future so you get more on-time answers. Heck there's only like 3 of us who come here anyway!

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