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【No. 0943】Koke ni Suru (コケにする)

Jul 18, 2017 10:58
Japanese people sometimes say "koke ni suru" (コケにする) when taunting someone.

Here, "koke" is written as "虚仮" in kanji, which is not "苔" meaning "moss."

"Koke" (虚仮) is a Buddhist term, and means that something is empty/insubstantial, or a mind/act is fake.

That's why "koke ni suru" (making someone be koke) has come to be used as a term for mocking people.

There is another term, "koke odoshi" (虚仮威し), which use the same "koke."

"Odoshi" means to bluff, and "koke odoshi" means something that has good appearance but is empty.
コケにする

誰かのことをバカにしたり嘲ったりすることを、日本語では「コケにする」と言うことがあります。

ここで「コケ」は、「苔」ではなく「虚仮」と書きます。

「虚仮」は仏教用語であり、「空っぽで実体のないこと」や「心や行為が偽りであること」を意味します。

これが転じて、「コケにする」は人を馬鹿にする意味で使われるようになりました。

同じ「コケ」を使った言葉には、「虚仮威し」があります。

「威し」は「驚かす」の意味で、「虚仮威し」は見かけだけは立派だけれども中身が無いものを指します。

Corrections (2)

No. 1 Reyanimator
  • Japanese people sometimes say "koke ni suru" (コケにする) when taunting someone.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Here, "koke" is written as "虚仮" in kanji, which is not "苔" meaning "moss."
  • Here, "koke" is written as "虚仮" in kanji, which sounds the same but uses a different kanji to the word for 'Moss' (苔).

    Rememebr to have a full description - not everyone knows that kanji can sound the same but look different and have different meanings

  • "Koke" (虚仮) is a Buddhist term, and means that something is empty/insubstantial, or a mind/act is fake.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • That's why "koke ni suru" (making someone be koke) has come to be used as a term for mocking people.
  • That's why "koke ni suru" (making someone be koke) has come to be used as a derogatory term.

    You're not incorrect, but I think it sounds smoother this way.

  • There is another term, "koke odoshi" (虚仮威し), which use the same "koke."
  • There is another term, "koke odoshi" (虚仮威し), which uses the same "koke" as koke ni suru.

    Just remember the S for uses

  • "Odoshi" means to bluff, and "koke odoshi" means something that has good appearance but is empty.
  • "Odoshi" means to bluff, and "koke odoshi" means something appears to be good but is in fact empty.

Thats very interesting, I didnt know about 'kokenisuru'!

Toru
Thank you so much for correcting my post! (^^)
No. 2 Nutty Muffin
  • Japanese people sometimes say "koke ni suru" (コケにする) when taunting someone.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • "Koke" (虚仮) is a Buddhist term, and means that something is empty/insubstantial, or a mind/act is fake.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • That's why "koke ni suru" (making someone be koke) has come to be used as a term for mocking people.
  • That's why "koke ni suru" (making someone be koke) is a term that has come to be used when mocking people.

    This is just another way you can put it.

  • There is another term, "koke odoshi" (虚仮威し), which use the same "koke."
  • There is another term, "koke odoshi" (虚仮威し), which can be used similarly to "koke ni suru."
Toru
Thank you very much always for correcting my post! :)

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