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【No. 2013】Enpitsu Namename (鉛筆なめなめ - Think Seriously / Balance a Budget)

Apr 27, 2023 21:45
Enpitsu Namename

Today, I learned a phrase used by older people, enpitsu namename (鉛筆なめなめ).

Since enpitsu (鉛筆) means "pencil," and namename (なめなめ) is a repetition of name (なめ) in nameru (舐める), which means "to lick," the literal meaning of enpitsu namename is "to lick a pencil."

Can you guess what it actually means?

The answer is "to think seriously" or "to balance a budget."

The former came from the fact that the licking of a pencil looks like a thinking gesture, and the latter came from the fact that people used to lick the tips of poor-quality pencils to write clearly.
鉛筆なめなめ

私は今日、「鉛筆なめなめ」という年輩の方が使う言葉を学びました。

「鉛筆」は "pencil"、「なめなめ」は "to " を意味する「舐める」の「なめ」を繰り返した表現であるため、「鉛筆なめなめ」の文字通りの意味は "" となります。

実際にはどのような意味で使われるか、想像できますか?

答えは「真剣に考える」や「数字の帳尻を合わせる」です。

前者は鉛筆をなめる仕草を考える仕草に見えることから、後者は昔の質の悪い鉛筆は舐めることでよく書けるようになったことに由来します。

Corrections (1)

No. 1 O-Star
  • Enpitsu Namename (鉛筆なめなめ - Think Seriously / Balance a Budget)
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Enpitsu Namename
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Today, I learned a phrase used by older people, 'enpitsu namename' (鉛筆なめなめ).
  • Today, I learned a phrase used by older people, called 'enpitsu namename' (鉛筆なめなめ).
  • Since 'enpitsu' (鉛筆) means "pencil," and 'namename' (なめなめ) is a repetition of 'name' (なめ) in 'nameru' (舐める), which means "to lick," the literal meaning of 'enpitsu namename' is "to lick a pencil."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Can you guess what it actually means?
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • The answer is "to think seriously" or "to balance a budget."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • The former came from the fact that the licking of a pencil looks like a thinking gesture, and the latter came from the fact that people used to lick the tips of poor-quality pencils to write clearly.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
Toru
Thank you for the correction! (^^)
O-Star
You're welcome!

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