OzOzOz 2 Posted July 12, 2002 Share Posted July 12, 2002 Where does the word "echi" (H) come from? None of my Japanese buddies can explain it well. Maybe you can tell us, echineko? Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted July 13, 2002 Share Posted July 13, 2002 DON'T ask difficult questions! OK, there's lots of stories out there about this one. 1. It comes from the H of Hentai, meaning 'perverted'. 2. It comes from a mispronunciation of "You're a letch". 3. It comes from WWII vintage soldier's slang - sukebe's first kanji is the kanji for 'help', a word which some soldiers were likely to know. Filthy soldier's talk, by a convoluted etymology, came to be called 'etchi'. The last one of these stories claims that etchi became common among civvies in 50s, knocking at least the first story out of the running. (Shows how much I know - see the link below). The second story is just implausible, as I think the expression 'letch' was probably not current amongst English speakers in Japan in the 50s. So the 3rd one seems most plausible to me. Damn, after writing all this out, I find there's already a version of this in English on the Web; http://home.attbi.com/~kagamix2/H_does_not_mean_hentai/theories.html It also seems that this is quite a popular conundrum on the Japanese web (which I HATE looking at by the way - where is that unique design sense of the Japanese??) As I said DON'T ask difficult questions! Link to post Share on other sites
el diablo 0 Posted July 13, 2002 Share Posted July 13, 2002 Summat to do with bears Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted July 13, 2002 Share Posted July 13, 2002 ...from the shape of the letter "H" Link to post Share on other sites
Wizz 11 Posted July 15, 2002 Share Posted July 15, 2002 what about "sukebe" then - where that from? Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Sensational 0 Posted July 15, 2002 Share Posted July 15, 2002 I never have quite worked out the difference between H and sukebe. Are they basically the same way to saythe same thing? Link to post Share on other sites
miteyak 0 Posted July 15, 2002 Share Posted July 15, 2002 Could be wrong, but carry on films are H, and hardcore schoolgirl movies sukebe? Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted July 15, 2002 Share Posted July 15, 2002 Carry on films. Now there's something real natsukashii. Link to post Share on other sites
oo 1 Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 ...more like a bad dream, no? Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts