Jisho

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3 Replies ・ Started by tomdavies74 at 2015-04-15 17:51:53 UTC ・ Last reply by Jayelette at 2015-04-17 21:28:56 UTC
This is a discussion about 世の中

世の中 vs. 社会

Can anyone offer any information on how 世の中 and 社会 differ, connotations-wise, as they're both listed as meaning 'society'?

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l_andrew_l Admin at 2015-04-16 17:13:51 UTC

I would say that 社会 pretty much matches "society" in it's most general sense. 世の中 on the other hand if often used in fixed expressions such as 世の中は甘くない and more readily lends itself to "world" as a translation and in such expressions.

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SenseiHanzo at 2015-04-17 06:41:12 UTC

Yeah, I feel like 世の中 tends to be used to talk more about trends or views in society, whereas 社会 is more just generally referring to society itself. Another phrase I've seen is この世の中だからこそ~ "Because the world/society is like this, _____"

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Jayelette at 2015-04-17 21:28:56 UTC

社会 also tends to be used in compounds to do with society such as "social movement":社会運動(しゃかいうんどう)、"social problem/issue":社会問題(しゃかいもんだい), and I would say seems less "idiomatic" and general than 世の中.

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