Posted: 30th Nov 2023
Hello and welcome to the Ippo Ippo Japanese Word of the Week!
This Week's Word Is...
お尻
- In hiragana: おしり
- In rōmaji: oshiri
While I've mostly written お尻 using kanji in this post, it does also appear in just hiragana quite often.
Before We Begin
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What Does お尻 (oshiri) Mean?
お尻 (oshiri), quite simply, means "bum", "butt" or "bottom". It's a fairly inoffensive word you'll hear being used by everyone from young kids to adults of all ages.
Click here for a Japanese article aimed at English learners which gives some extra translations for お尻 (oshiri).
How Do You Pronounce お尻 (oshiri)?
Visit Forvo to hear examples of how to pronounce this word.
Why Are We Talking About Bums?
Not a question I ever thought I'd end up answering on this blog, but here we go!
It just so happens that the 30th of November is いいお尻の日 (ii oshiri no hi - "Good Bum Day") in Japan! Like many other days we've seen on this blog (Cat Day being my personal favourite), this is based on a wordplay:
- 11 (the month of November) can be read as "ii", which sounds the same as the Japanese word for "good"
- The 30th being the last day of November, it can be thought of as the "rearend" of the month - in contrast of the start of the month, which is known as the "head" (e.g. 11月の頭 - juu ichi gatsu no atama (the "head" of November)).
As with many of these not-so-serious days in Japan, Good Bum Day appears to have been created as a commercial opportunity more than anything, with various companies jumping on board to promote their bum-themed goods at this time of year (see, for example, this Buttress Pillow).
While it's worth mentioning that there seems to be some debate over when Good Bum Day truly is, with some articles claiming it as the 4th of November, if nothing else this is evidence of just how many different wordplays are up for grabs when it comes to Japanese date names!
How to Use お尻 (oshiri) in a Sentence
Before we wrap up, let's take a look at how you might use the word お尻 (oshiri).
Example Sentences
- お尻が痛い。(Oshiri ga itai - My bum hurts)
- 今日は「お尻の日」だよ！(Kyō wa "oshiri no hi" da yo! Today is "Good Bum Day!")
- この運動はお尻にいい。(Kono undō wa oshiri ni ii - This exercise is good for your buttocks)
- 彼はお尻に座った。(Kare wa oshiri ni suwatta - He sat down on his bottom)
- コーギーのおしりがかわいい！(Kōgii no oshiri ga kawaii! - Corgis have cute bums!)
Source:
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