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Today we’ll learn how to be pretentious in Japanese. If you’ve ever watched the show Frasier, you may have heard the character Niles order cappuccino with “just a whisper of cinnamon.” And if you saw the movie Sideways, you heard the wine snob protagonist refer to one red wine as having “the faintest soupçon of asparagus and just a flutter of a nutty Edam cheese.”
These characters used an important bit of syntax when they indicated “a touch of” or “a smidge.” How important? Well, it’s the difference between calling a movie Evil and A Touch of Evil.
In Japanese, 味 (MI, aji) enables you to indicate when something has just a hint of this or a touch of that. This kanji performs that function in the following words, where it means “sensation, feeling”:
禅味 (zenmi: flavor of Zen; air of disinterestedness)
Zen + sensationZen seems far too much for my Western brain to comprehend. But if something has the “flavor” of Zen, that might be rather pleasant and serene.
俳味 (haimi: subdued taste, refined taste; haiku (poetic) flavor) haiku + feeling
If anyone ever asks you how a haiku tastes, you can now report back that you found the flavor subdued and yet refined, with a soupçon of asparagus. OK, clearly the first two definitions have nothing to do with haiku. Not sure about the etymology, but maybe those who like haiku are thought to have subdued and refined taste.
地味 (jimi: plain, sober, unpretentious) earth + feeling
Oh! After years of puzzling over this compound and not getting it, I suddenly do! Something that’s plain (as opposed to elaborate or ostentatious) is down-to-earth. I like it!
真実味 (shinjitsumi: flavor of truth (e.g., of a report))
truth + reality + flavor
With the American election season in overdrive, I long to hear a politician say something that imparts the flavor of truth.
赤味 (akami: a tinge of red) red + a touch of
I love the way these two kanji complement each other visually.
Teaming up with 気
The kanji 味 continues to impart flavors when it teams up with 気 (KI: “a dash of,” in this case), producing this construction:
気味 (kimi: feeling, sensation, a touch of, a tinge of)
flavor + a dash of
This compound can stand on its own, but it frequently plays a part in other expressions, such as this one:
気味の悪い (kimi no warui: eerie, ominous, weird)
a touch of + bad
The 気味 expression enables you to reassure someone that you’re not on your deathbed but just have a slight cold:
風邪気味 (kazegimi: slight cold)
cold (1st 2 chars.) + a touch of (last 2 chars.)We’ve seen that the first two kanji constitute ateji.
In 風邪気味, the last two kanji may actually constitute a suffix, because according to Breen, the following suffix exists:
-気味 (-gimi: -like; -looking; -looked)
Breen provides just one sample sentence to support this intriguing bit of information:
彼は人の名前を忘れ気味である。
Kare wa hito no namae o wasuregimi de aru.
He is apt to forget people’s names.
Hedging One’s Bets
The suffix 気味 plays a part in a host of words where it contributes the sense of “kind of” or “rather.” With such words, you’re neither here nor there, because 気味 has placed you in an intermediary zone. Check out this example:
冗談 (jōdan: joke) useless + talk
冗談気味 (jōdangimi: half in jest)
冗談気味 (jōdangimi: half in jest)
More Examples of Hedged Bets …
OK, two more that don’t fit the pattern but that have interesting meanings:
好い気味 (iikimi: serves one right; what one deserves)
to like + sensation (last 2 chars.)
This seems to be idiomatic, as the straight breakdown makes no sense. The expression certainly allows for some harsh sentences, as you’ll see at the link.
By itself, 食傷 (shokushō: to eat + wound) means “being fed up (with).” I love the idea that “being fed up with” includes 食, the kanji for eating or for food!
Adding 気味 only maintains or reinforces the state produced by 食傷:
食傷気味 (shokushōgimi: being sick and tired (of); being fed up (with); having one’s fill (of))
Well, perhaps you’ve had your fill of 気味 expressions, in which case it’s time for a Verbal Logic Quiz.
