機密 (kimitsu: secrecy; highly classified information) occasion + secret
彼の秘書が機密情報は一切漏らしてないと明言した。
Kare no hisho ga kimitsu jōhō wa issai morashitenai to meigen shita.
His secretary flatly denied leaking any confidential information.彼 (kare: he)
秘書 (hisho: (private) secretary)
to keep secret + writingLook! Secrets have led us back to secretaries!
情報 (jōhō: information) actual facts + information
一切 (issai: all; absolutely) one + everythingAlthough we usually see 切 as “to cut,” in this case it means “everything,” says Halpern. Another interesting point about this compound: with one hiragana trailing after it, the yomi and meaning change entirely. That is, 一切れ (hitokire) refers to “one piece,” as in a piece of cake or bread. That’s because -切れ (-kire) is a suffix for slices or strips.
漏 (mo(rasu): to let leak, reveal)I love all the water imagery (the water radical,
, plus the rain, 雨) in a word about leaking! I’m just slightly disturbed that the buttocks radical 尸 has shown up, too! I’d rather not think about that in this context! But how can I not, when I pronounce morasu and realize what it sounds like?! Oh, wait, Henshall to the rescue. He says that although 尸 can indeed mean “buttocks,” it can also mean “corpse.” So the corpse is leaking?! No, no, he says that in 漏, the component in question acts as a simplification of “building,” 屋. So the building is leaking, not the buttocks! Whew! We’re safely out of that morass!
明言 (meigen: declaration, statement) clear + to speak
