Ookini
Today, I come back to the Kanto region from the Kansai region.
おおきに
In western Japan (Kansai), it’s natural but I often heard that people speak in a Kansai dialect.
今日は関西方面から関東方面に戻ります。
I will the Japanese word “ookini,” which is often used by people live in the Kansai region.
関西地方では、当然ですが、関西弁が多く聞こえてきました。
“Ookini” sometimes could mean just “big,” but it’s used as the meaning of “thank you” there.
その中でも使われる頻度のとても多い「おおきに」という言葉を紹介します。
The etymology is “ookini arigatashi” (“ookini” means “very much,” and “arigatashi” means “thank you”), and it became to say just “ookini” by omitting the latter part.
「おおきに」は単に「大きい」という意味も持ちますが、関西では主に「ありがとう」の意味で使用されます。
By combining the word “maido,” which means “always,” you can say “maido ookini” (thank you always).
語源は「大きに有り難し」であり、「有り難し」を削って「大きに」とだけ言うのが定着したそうです。
