January 21, 2010

Let's Yoji: Vim and vigor

旺盛 (ousei, full of vim and vigor) appears in a few idioms. 旺(ou) doesn't seem to get used much without 盛 (sei) in Japanese. Oddly enough, the former seems to be substitutable for the later in the word sakan (prosperous, vigorous, etc.) because they cover the same ground: prosperity, vitality, and flourishing. I would bet this combo is used a lot more in Chinese, which likes to combine similar hanzi to make words. 旺 can also be used as an alternative for 美 (beautiful) in utsukushi (beautiful) in theory, but only very rarely. Anyways, as long as we realize one of these kanji is impractical, let's see how they are used. Breakdown music begin!


旺盛 Breakdowns:


士気旺盛 shikiousei
gloss: morale being very high, heightened fighting spirit

士 shi: warrior
気 ki: spirit
士気 shiki: morale

元気旺盛 genkiousei
gloss: be brimming with vitality, be full of vigor

元 gen: origin
元気 genki: vigor, spirit [don't you know this word by now?]

気力旺盛 kiryokuousei
gloss: being full of energy

力 ryoku: strength
気力 kiryoku: willpower, energy
This last one is the reason why I do these silly word studies. For you see, I am...
好奇心旺盛 koukishinousei
gloss: brimming with curiosity

好 kou: like, fond
奇 ki: strange, curious
心 shin: mind, heart
好奇心: curiosity

No comments:

Post a Comment

All comments are moderated in a speedy fashion.