{"id":1886,"date":"2024-10-21T10:41:15","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T01:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsletter.nichibun.ac.jp\/?post_type=messages&p=1886"},"modified":"2025-02-13T10:16:41","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T01:16:41","slug":"%e4%ba%ac%e9%83%bd%e3%81%ae%e7%ab%af%e3%81%8b%e3%82%89%e3%80%81%e3%81%93%e3%82%93%e3%81%ab%e3%81%a1%e3%81%af%e3%80%80%e7%ac%ac48%e5%9b%9e","status":"publish","type":"messages","link":"https:\/\/newsletter.nichibun.ac.jp\/en\/messages\/1886\/","title":{"rendered":"Greetings from the Outskirts of Kyoto vol.48"},"content":{"rendered":"
I am an old man. When I hear the word pantsu (\u201cpants\u201d in English), I think of underwear. But young people think differently. It seems the first thing that springs to their minds is \u201ctrousers.\u201d The fact is that in Japan today two different meanings of the Japanese word pantsu co-exist.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\n
The use of pantsu in the sense of \u201cunderwear\u201d comes from British English. British people do not refer to what we call zubon as \u201cpants.\u201d The word they use is \u201ctrousers.\u201d At the same time, in American English, \u201cpants\u201d refers only to \u201ctrousers.\u201d Americans don\u2019t use the word for underwear. For underwear they use \u201cshorts\u201d among other words.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\n
British English and American English are decidedly different when it comes to the meaning of \u201cpants.\u201d Unlike the Japanese word pantsu, the English word \u201cpants\u201d cannot be taken to mean two different things.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\n
In Japan, then, British and American styles co-exist. Or perhaps it is a case of linguistic segregation? I for one think that the American style is making steady in-roads. Tracking the changes in vocabulary usage looks like a topic for international research into Japanese culture.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\n
\r\n
\"\"

Illustration by Inoue Sh\u014dichi<\/p><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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