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【No. 0643】Inu and Kame (Dogs and Turtles)

Sep 21, 2016 14:11
Dogs are called "inu" in Japan.

However, in the Meiji era, dogs (especially western dogs) were called "kame," which means turtles.

Also, "kame" was popular as a name of dogs at that time.

This came from misunderstanding of an English phrase.

It is said that Japanese people thought that Western people called dogs "kame ya" when they said "come here."

(In Japan, when people call someone or an animal, "ya" is sometimes put after the name.)

This misunderstanding was spread, and this is why Japanese people called dogs "kame".

Note that by no means the word "kame" means as dogs today.
犬と亀

"Dog" は日本語で「犬」です。

しかし明治時代、犬（特に洋犬）は「カメ」と呼ばれていました。

また、当時「カメ」は犬の名前としても人気がありました。

これは、英語の聞き間違いから来ているとされています。

西洋人が "come here" とを呼び寄せているのを見て、日本人は「カメや」と名前を呼んでいると勘違いしたそうです。

（日本では人や動物を呼ぶとき、名前の後ろに「や」付けることがあります。）

これが広まり、「犬」は「カメ」と呼ばれていました。

現在では「カメ」と言っても決して「犬」を意味しないので注意して下さい。

Corrections (3)

No. 1　Wertyll
  • Dogs are called "inu" in Japan.
  • Dogs are called "inu" in Japan.

    That works just fine, but you could also say, "Dogs are called 'inu' in Japanese."

  • However, in the Meiji era, dogs (especially western dogs) were called "kame," which means turtles.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Also, "kame" was popular as a name of dogs at that time.
  • Also, "kame" was popular as a name for dogs at that time.
  • It is said that Japanese people thought that Western people called dogs "kame ya" when they said "come here."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • (In Japan, when people call someone or an animal, "ya" is sometimes put after the name.)
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • This misunderstanding was spread, and this is why Japanese people called dogs "kame".
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Note that by no means the word "kame" means as dogs today.
  • Note that by no means does the word "kame" mean dogs today.
Toru
Thank you so much for correcting my post!
Sorry for the late reply.
No. 2　デクラン
  • Dogs are called "inu" in Japan.
  • We call dogs "inu" in Japan.
  • However, in the Meiji era, dogs (especially western dogs) were called "kame," which means turtles.
  • However, in the Meiji era, dogs (especially western dogs) were called "kame," which means "turtle".
  • Also, "kame" was popular as a name of dogs at that time.
  • Also, "kame" was a popular name for dogs at that time.
  • This came from misunderstanding of an English phrase.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • It is said that Japanese people thought that Western people called dogs "kame ya" when they said "come here."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • (In Japan, when people call someone or an animal, "ya" is sometimes put after the name.)
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • This misunderstanding was spread, and this is why Japanese people called dogs "kame".
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Note that by no means the word "kame" means as dogs today.
  • Note that by no means does the word "kame" means as "dog" today.

'Kame ya' sounds like an Australian accent. I wonder if the Westerners who said it first were from Australian, haha

Toru
Thank you so much for correcting my post!
It is an interesting consideration!
Sorry for the late reply.
No. 3　cis_c
  • This misunderstanding was spread, and this is why Japanese people called dogs "kame".
  • Such misunderstanding spread, and that is why dogs were called "kame" by Japanese people.

    The original sentence has no major grammatical problem actually. This is just a suggestion to make it sound more natural :)

So interesting ;) I really enjoy reading your entries, thank you ;)

Toru
Thank you so much for correcting my post!
Sorry for the late reply.

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