{"id":68369,"date":"2025-02-21T10:08:11","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T15:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=68369"},"modified":"2026-01-11T10:12:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:12:37","slug":"pervert-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=68369","title":{"rendered":"Pervert warning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poster on a Tokyo subway, courtesy of Sanping Chen:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u75f4\u6f22 (J. chikan \/ M. ch\u012bh\u00e0n\")\u00a0 is usually translated as \"molester; pervert; groper\".\u00a0 But don't blame the Japanese for this expression; it means negative things in Chinese too.\u00a0 There's another way to write it, \u7661\u6f22, which also means \"pervert\", etc.\u00a0 In premodern times, back as far as the medieval period, this term meant \"fool; dolt; idiot\".\u00a0 Aren't these strangely demeaning things to say about a \u6f22, which is now the ethnonym of the main group of Chinese people,\u00a0H\u00e0nz\u00fa \u6f22\u65cf, and also how they refer to their language, H\u00e0ny\u01d4 \u6f22\u8a9e, which I call \"Sinitic\" and who somebody I know calls \"Hannic\"?<\/p>\n

Transcription and translation by Nathan Hopson:<\/p>\n

Left of strap, top to bottom:<\/p>\n

\u3061\u3001\u75f4\u6f22\u3060!!
\nA, a molester!<\/p>\n

Yellow search bubble:<\/p>\n

\u75f4\u6f22\u3000\u76ee\u6483\u3000\u52a9\u3051\u305f\u3044
\nMolester witnessed want to help<\/p>\n

Below:<\/p>\n

\u52a9\u3051\u308b\u6e96\u5099\u3001\u3067\u304d\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3059\u304b
\nReady to help?<\/p>\n

Right of strap, top to bottom<\/p>\n

\u793e\u5185\u975e\u5e38\u901a\u5831\u5668
\nEmergency call\/report device<\/p>\n

\u62bc\u3057\u3066\u52a9\u3051\u3066
\nPush to help<\/p>\n

\u4e57\u52d9\u54e1\u3084\u6307\u4ee4\u6240\u3068\u901a\u8a71\u3067\u304d\u307e\u3059
\nYou can talk to a conductor or headquarters<\/p>\n

\u3069\u3046\u3057\u307e\u3057\u305f\u304b
\n\"What is it?\"<\/p>\n

\u3061\u304b\u3093\u3055\u308c\u3066\u3044\u307e\u305b\u3093\u304b?
\nAre you being molested?<\/p>\n

\u30b9\u30de\u30db\u30a2\u30d7\u30ea\u3092\u898b\u305b\u3066\u52a9\u3051\u308b
\nShow the app to help<\/p>\n

\u8b66\u8996\u5e81\u8a8d\u5b9a\u30a2\u30d7\u30eaDigiPolice
\nDigi Police app approved by Tokyo Metropolitan Police<\/p>\n

\u3060\u3044\u3058\u3087\u3046\u3076\u3067\u3059\u304b
\nAre you okay?<\/p>\n

\u58f0\u304b\u3051\u3067\u52a9\u3051\u308b
\nHelp with your voice<\/p>\n

The text cut off by the strap at the bottom appears to be:<\/p>\n

\u3042\u306a\u305f\u306e\u52c7\u6c17\u3067\u3001\u52a9\u3051\u3089\u308c\u308b
\nWith your courage, you can help<\/p>\n

The URL in fine print at the bottom right of the poster refers to \"pervert\".<\/p>\n

Another example of a not-so-good adjective applied to h\u00e0n \u6f22 is J. suikan \u9154\u6f22 \/ M. zu\u00ech\u00e0n (\"drunkard\")<\/p>\n

Of course, not all h\u00e0n \u6f22 are bad; indeed, there are h\u01ceoh\u00e0n \u597d\u6f22 (attested from the early 9th c.), meaning \"brave man; true man; hero\", but also, as a euphemism, \"outlaw\"!<\/p>\n

\u75f4 is the simplified substitute for \u7661, as the latter was excluded in the Kanji reform in 1949. The Japanese reform is not as drastic as the Chinese one. They sometimes coincide, and other times go different ways.<\/p>\n

The original meaning of\u00a0chikan<\/i> as \"foolish one\" is attested since 1790, and the meaning \"sexual offender\" since 1949.\u00a0 See the entry for \u75f4\u6f22 in Kotobanku<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How it came to have the second meaning is not an easy question to answer.\u00a0\u00a0See the entry for \u75f4\u6f22 in JapanKnowledge<\/a>.\u00a0 The change of meaning from \"the foolish\" to \"sexual offender\" is apparently \"narrowing\". Textbook examples are:\u00a0 meat (originally food in general), wife (< woman), deer (< animal, Ger. Tier), fowl (< bird in general, Ger F\u00fcgel), starve (< die, Ger. sterben), etc., etc.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Selected reading<\/b><\/p>\n