Although I became very familiar with the 虫 kanji as I wrote this post, I managed to make a mistake with the on-yomi in one place (a mistake that a sharp reader spotted and that I’ve since fixed). And now it occurs to me that the on-yomi CHŪ is actually simple to remember. An insect such as a moth “chews” on things and leaves holes in clothing.
It is hard to disagree with a dictionary but here is my personal interpretation. While Dr. Halpern says the 虫 suffix indicates a negative quality in a person, 虫, when used figuratively, means a person doing something excessively without tiring; 泣き虫 meaning a person crying too much and 弱虫 meaning a person too weak. Although doing anything too much would be a negative quality, in the cases of 本の虫 (bookworm) or 仕事の虫 (workworm? or workaholic), there is a feeling of admiration for devotion or studiousness mixed with ridicule. I don’t know how many people will agree with me.
I don’t know a lot about bugs, but I do recall a notation in Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book in which she writes in her list of sad things, something about a basket worm who cries “Milk” all the time. (Do not go there without arming yourself with Ivan Morris’ edition, which makes everything sensible.)
“I don’t know a lot about bugs”: Hmm. I Googled “Ebet Dudley” to see who it is that has left such interesting messages on my blog, and I found that Ebet Dudley illustrated a book on insects, of all things! Could there be two Ebet Dudleys in the world?
Hi Eve,
I’ve only ever heard of あぶらむし (aburamushi) as aphids, even though it is listed as cockroach in the dictionary. Aphids makes a lot of senseas “oil+insects” because that’s literally what they do…
Usually cockroaches are called ごきぶり (gokiburi.)
Your posts are so interesting!
Carolyn
Thanks for the comment! Yes, I should have said (per Breen) that “cockroach” is an obscure definition of 油虫. I love his 5th definition of it: “visitor to a red-light district who’s only there to look”!
I didn’t know anything about aphids, so thanks for the info.!
kanji resources
May 11th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Although I became very familiar with the 虫 kanji as I wrote this post, I managed to make a mistake with the on-yomi in one place (a mistake that a sharp reader spotted and that I’ve since fixed). And now it occurs to me that the on-yomi CHŪ is actually simple to remember. An insect such as a moth “chews” on things and leaves holes in clothing.
May 11th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
It is hard to disagree with a dictionary but here is my personal interpretation. While Dr. Halpern says the 虫 suffix indicates a negative quality in a person, 虫, when used figuratively, means a person doing something excessively without tiring; 泣き虫 meaning a person crying too much and 弱虫 meaning a person too weak. Although doing anything too much would be a negative quality, in the cases of 本の虫 (bookworm) or 仕事の虫 (workworm? or workaholic), there is a feeling of admiration for devotion or studiousness mixed with ridicule. I don’t know how many people will agree with me.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:03 am
I don’t know a lot about bugs, but I do recall a notation in Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book in which she writes in her list of sad things, something about a basket worm who cries “Milk” all the time. (Do not go there without arming yourself with Ivan Morris’ edition, which makes everything sensible.)
July 9th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
“I don’t know a lot about bugs”: Hmm. I Googled “Ebet Dudley” to see who it is that has left such interesting messages on my blog, and I found that Ebet Dudley illustrated a book on insects, of all things! Could there be two Ebet Dudleys in the world?
April 7th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Hi Eve,
I’ve only ever heard of あぶらむし (aburamushi) as aphids, even though it is listed as cockroach in the dictionary. Aphids makes a lot of senseas “oil+insects” because that’s literally what they do…
Usually cockroaches are called ごきぶり (gokiburi.)
Your posts are so interesting!
Carolyn
April 9th, 2010 at 10:56 am
Hi, Carolyn.
Thanks for the comment! Yes, I should have said (per Breen) that “cockroach” is an obscure definition of 油虫. I love his 5th definition of it: “visitor to a red-light district who’s only there to look”!
I didn’t know anything about aphids, so thanks for the info.!
April 10th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Thank you Eve,
I’ve had a good laugh at the 5th definition!
I didn’t know that one either… but I can imagine the insect imagery.