Jisho

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A194eaffd855ab618c92a86531acc805
5 Replies ・ Started by Stewiemagee at 2022-06-29 06:27:56 UTC ・ Last reply by Stewiemagee at 2022-06-30 21:28:09 UTC

are these words offensive?

I have a seen a number of words containing 漢 that have (to me) an unexpected meaning. Are they considered offensive or taboo? or even racist?
門外漢 outsider; layman; amateur
痴漢 molester; groper; masher; pervert​
暴漢 hoodlum; ruffian
大食漢 great eater; glutton
凶漢 villain; outlaw; assassin
悪漢 rascal; villain; scoundrel; ruffian; crook​
and there's a few more.

A194eaffd855ab618c92a86531acc805
Stewiemagee at 2022-06-29 06:35:19 UTC

To be fair, there's also words that use 漢 that have with good connotations!
正義漢 just person; man of justice; righteous person; upright person
好漢 fine fellow
快漢 pleasant fellow

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Leebo at 2022-06-29 09:50:43 UTC

If your suspicion that they might be racist words comes from the idea that 漢 means "Chinese" in them, maybe it makes you feel better to know that in these words it just meant "man." And they are / have been used that way in Chinese.

For instance, 痴漢 existed in Chinese before it was borrowed into Japanese, and it meant "stupid man". After entering Japanese, it gained the modern Japanese meaning of "molester."

Hopefully that clears up why the words exist as they do.

Obviously all the ones with derogatory meanings are not nice words to call anyone. But if you were worried that they were attacks on Chinese people, that is not the case from an etymological standpoint.

I don't actually know how any Chinese people actually feel about them though, so I can't say unequivocally that no one thinks they're racist.

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Fredora at 2022-06-29 14:02:51 UTC

yeah, as suffix 漢 simply means man in Chinese as well as in Japanese

this meaning as a suffix is not directly linked to the chinese or han-people meaning of the Kanji

none of the words you listed are racial slurs or anything like that
(although only a few people will take molester as a compliment lol)

A194eaffd855ab618c92a86531acc805
Stewiemagee at 2022-06-30 21:24:16 UTC

Thanks for your replies, that clears up my confusion. I didn't realise this additional meaning of 'man' for 漢.

A194eaffd855ab618c92a86531acc805
Stewiemagee at 2022-06-30 21:28:09 UTC

I had seen
https://jisho.org/search/%E6%BC%A2%20%23kanji
But now I found this too
https://jisho.org/word/%E6%BC%A2-1
Which lists 'man' as a meaning.

to reply.