バカチョン

Japanese

Etymology

Uncertain, but probably a shortening of バカチョンカメラ (bakachon kamera, “vacation camera”). While the full phrase camera phrase バカチョンカメラ (bakachon kamera) only appears from the early 1980s, phrasing like ばかだの、ちょんだの (baka da no, chon da no, “even a baka or a chon, even an idiot or a good-for-nothing”) is already extant in the 1870s.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) ばかちょ​ん [bàkáchóꜜǹ] (Nakadaka – [3])
  • IPA(key): [ba̠ka̠t͡ɕõ̞ɴ]

Noun

バカチョン • (bakachon) 

  1. point-and-shoot camera, compact camera

Usage notes

Due to its close similarity to an ethnic slur (ばか (baka, “idiot”) + ちょん (chon, “(ethnic slur) Korean”)), this word is currently banned from broadcasting and may be taken as offensive by some.

References
  1. “ちょん”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  2. “ちょん”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  3. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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