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【No. 1177】Gota Gota (ごたごた - Jumbling)

Mar 9, 2018 05:01
A situation where something jumbles disorderly or a bothersome thing is referred to as ごたごた (gota gota) in Japanese.

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

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.

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

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

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。

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。

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。

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。

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。

Corrections (1)

No. 1 Steph
  • I think that most Japanese people believe that "gota gota" is an onomatopoeia representing that things are jumbled.
  • I think that most Japanese people believe that "gota gota" is an onomatopoeia representing that things are jumbled.
  • 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.
  • However, this term comes from 兀庵普寧 (Gottan Funei), a Zen Monk, who was invited to Japan (?) from 宋 (Sou ie Song) in during the Kamakura Period.
  • Gottan had a free-minded thinking but was an argumentative person, so it seemed that his preaching was complicated and very difficult to understand.
  • Gottan had a free-minded thinking was open-minded, but was an argumentative person, so it seemed that his preaching was complicated and very difficult to understand.
  • Because of this, jumbling was called 兀庵兀庵する (Gottan Gottan suru), and it has come to become "gota gota."
  • Because of this, jumbling was called 兀庵兀庵する (Gottan Gottan suru), and it has come to become known as "gota gota."
Toru
Thank you so much for the correction! :)

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