The word デブ in Japanese means "fat" or "chubby," with a negative connotation. The reason that I know of it is because my かのじょ calls me it whenever I eat something that I shouldn't be. In fact, she enjoys saying it so frequently that I'm quite sure it's become my nickname. Thus, I figured why not research the word, and low and behold I discovered that it is written in カタカナ. According to numerous sources found on jisho.org, デブ is a slang noun. Interestingly enough, if your name is Deb, your カタカナ name is デブ.
アイスクリーム
Unsurprisingly, the above カタカナ refers to ice cream, which is a borrowed word from America. There is no word for ice cream in Japanese, so when にほんじん are looking for a tasty frozen treat, in their heads, they're thinking about "ice cream." It turns out, that since ice cream is an imported idea, unlike rice, tea, or mochi, the Japanese didn't have a native term for it. Katakana fills the void and allows Japanese to communicate globally without the need for committees to be formed on deciding what new things should be called. As a side note, the Japanese apparently like ice cream, with two in five consuming ice cream regularly.
Please try to find other contexts in which "デブ" is used, and analyze how katakana is used. In terms of "アイスクリーム," we've had a tasty frozen treat since hundreds years ago. What source did you refer to?
ReplyDeleteFunny! Now you figure out what デブ means, and you also know your nickname is mostly written in katakana. Ever time she calls you "debu”, two katakana letters come up in your mind, right? But, actually, it's sometimes written in hiragana in different contexts, and it seems to me that Japanese people, including me, choose which to use rather consciously...How do you think is デブ different from でぶ???
ReplyDeleteYou found a very interesting sample!! I don't even know why 'debu' is written in Katakana. To me it seems like it is showing the closeness that a speaker feels toward a listener. But I could be wrong. It might be interesting to look into many use of 'debu' from different contexts and compare.
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