Gota Gota (ごたごた – Jumbling)

Both

English

Japanese

A situation where something jumbles disorderly or a bothersome thing is referred to as ごたごた (gota gota) in Japanese.

無秩序に乱れるさまや、面倒くさい事柄のことを、「ごたごた」と言います。

I think that most Japanese people believe that “gota gota” is an onomatopoeia representing that things are jumbled.

多くの日本人は「ごたごた」のことを、物が乱れているさまを表す擬態語だと考えていると思います。

However, this term comes from 兀庵普寧 (Gottan Funei), Zen Monk, who was invited from 宋 (Sou ie Song) in the Kamakura Period.

しかしこの言葉は、鎌倉時代に宋から招かれた禅僧・兀庵普寧（ごったんふねい）の名前に由来します。

Gottan had a free-minded thinking but was an argumentative person, so it seemed that his preaching was complicated and very difficult to understand.

兀庵は自由な発想を持つ反面理屈屋で、彼の説法は複雑でわかりにくかったそうです。

Because of this, jumbling was called 兀庵兀庵する (Gottan Gottan suru), and it has come to become “gota gota.”

このことから、こんがらがることを「兀庵兀庵する」と言うようになり、後に「ごたごた」となったそうです。