Sunday, August 14, 2011

"Hi, my name is Bitchiko"

We're astounded by her feats of crankiness
When it comes to women's names here in Japan, it's quite common for the names to end in "ko" as in popular names such as Yoko, Keiko, Atsuko and a host of other names. However, don't get fooled into thinking that every name that ends in "-ko" means that it's a woman/girl as there are male names that also have this ending (although, a tell-tale sign for beginners is that the male names are usually a bit longer). For those taking notes, the "ko" at the end of most women's names are written with the character "子" and means child so the meaning of the name usually literally means "child of" (the meaning of the first character).

So, yeah, with that educational segment taking care of, Mrs. Sunshine has recently given (former Baby) Toddler Sunshine a separate name for her when she makes a big fuzz and generally being a nuisance with refusing to do something. The name is "Bitchiko" and apparently at her former job there was a particularly bitchy lady that gave birth to this very descriptive nickname. Granted, literally implementing the meaning "child of..." for Bitchiko when used for Toddler Sunshine carries with it some not very good implications for Mrs. Sunshine... Still, it's a good name and can be quite descriptive at times.

...in other news, the heat is still relentless here in Tokyo now... A weekend like this it's hard to muster up any energy to do anything at all but to lie flat and complain about the heat...

3 comments:

Kathryn said...

I thought the "ko" at the end of names meant small, as in Sakurako meant little cherry blossom.

I do like Bitchiko and think I will stay using it in various situations :)

Chris said...

Corrine no doubt flings around "Cuntiko" as often as she says hello ;)

Sounds like your wife has it figured out...just nod in agreement and then ignore her while you find some cool new free app. "Stupid Zombie" is so good I payed the whole 85yen for the full version.

Mr. Salaryman said...

Kathryn - The character at the end of the women's names I mentioned means "child" (子) but the word for small also has the reading "ko" (小) so maybe that's what you're thinking of? I think that "Sakurako" is written as "桜子" and thus means "sakura kids" :)

Chris - Oh yeah, that's for sure. Wouldn't be surprised if it's the actual name of her SIL! Hey, I also downloaded Stupid Zombie now just because of you, pretty entertaining stuff, good timekiller and more gory than angry birds!

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