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【No. 1182】Oshaka ni Naru (おしゃかになる - Becoming Useless)

Mar 14, 2018 17:47
When things are ruined, or something is broken and become useless, we refer to it as おしゃかになる (oshaka ni naru) in Japanese.

お (o) is a polite prefix and しゃか (Shaka) is Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

There are several theories about the etymology of this term, but the famous one is something like the following.

One day, a casting craftworker was trying to cast a statue of 阿弥陀仏 (Amida Buddha), but accidentally he cast a statue of "Shaka."
(Note that "Amida" and "Shaka" are completely different.)

Because of this, "oshaka ni naru" (becoming oshaka) has come to have the current meaning.

This term is similar to おじゃん (ojan), to which I introduced you.
http://lang-8.com/kanotown/journals/175639051782742719229043226410411131950
おしゃかになる

何かがダメになることや、壊れて使い物にならなくなることを、「おしゃかになる」と言います。

「お」は丁寧の接頭辞で、「しゃか」は仏教の開祖である釈迦のことを意味します。

語源は諸説ありますが、有名なものは以下の説です。

ある鋳物職人が阿弥陀像を鋳ようとしていましたが、誤って釈迦像を鋳てしまいました。

このことから、「おしゃか」は使い物にならなくなったものを意味するようになりました。

この言葉は、以前紹介した「おじゃん」と似ています。
http://lang-8.com/kanotown/journals/175639051782742719229043226410411131950

Corrections (3)

No. 1　Tiger
  • There are several theories about the etymology of this term, but the famous one is something like the following.
  • There are several theories regarding the etymology of this term, but the most famous theory is something like the following:
  • One day, a casting craftworker was trying to cast a statue of 阿弥陀仏 (Amida Buddha), but accidentally he cast a statue of "Shaka."
  • One day, a craft-worker was trying to cast a statue of 阿弥陀仏 (Amida Buddha), but accidentally cast a statue of "Shaka."

    cannot use "he" for craft-worker because it assumes that the person was male.

  • This term is similar to おじゃん (ojan), to which I introduced you.
  • This term is similar to おじゃん (ojan) which I introduced before.

    No need to say "you" here. Besides, mostly this is not in 2nd person, but written in 3rd-person.

Toru
Thank you so much for the corrections! :)
No. 2　Chris
  • When things are ruined, or something is broken and become useless, we refer to it as おしゃかになる (oshaka ni naru) in Japanese.
  • When things get ruined, or something is broken and becomes useless, we refer to it as おしゃかになる (oshaka ni naru) in Japanese.
  • お (o) is a polite prefix and しゃか (Shaka) is Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • There are several theories about the etymology of this term, but the famous one is something like the following.
  • There are several theories about the etymology of this term, but the most famous one is something like the following.
  • One day, a casting craftworker was trying to cast a statue of 阿弥陀仏 (Amida Buddha), but accidentally he cast a statue of "Shaka."
  • One day, a craftsman was trying to cast a statue of 阿弥陀仏 (Amida Buddha), but accidentally cast a statue of "Shaka."
  • (Note that "Amida" and "Shaka" are completely different.)
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Because of this, "oshaka ni naru" (becoming oshaka) has come to have the current meaning.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

Thanks for teaching me a new phrase! Is it used often?

Toru
Thank you so much for the corrections! :)

It's not frequent, but I sometimes hear this term.
I think that older people tend to use it.
No. 3　ｚ０えｙ
  • When things are ruined, or something is broken and become useless, we refer to it as おしゃかになる (oshaka ni naru) in Japanese.
  • When things are ruined, or something is broken and becomes useless, we refer to it as おしゃかになる (oshaka ni naru) in Japanese.
Toru
Thank you so much for the correction! :)

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