チンピラ

Japanese

Etymology

Unknown. Appears in texts from the early 1900s.

Early uses referred to young pickpockets. May have originally been a compound of ちん (chin, slang prefix indicating “small, little”, sometimes even spelled 小) +‎ 片 (hira, “piece or scrap of paper”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) チンピラ [chìńpírá] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [t͡ɕĩmpʲiɾa̠]

Noun

チンピラ or ちんぴら • (chinpira) 

1. a child or other youth putting on airs and acting arrogantly
2. a chav, a bogan
3. a hoodlum, a minor criminal, a hooligan, a punk

   近(きん)所(じょ)のチンピラ

   kinjo no chinpira

   a neighborhood punk

   • 1967, Kazuo Ōkubo, Aka to kuro, translation of Le Rouge et le Noir by Stendhal:

     もちろんアカデミ会(かい)員(いん)の甥(おい)で、将(しょう)来(らい)教(きょう)授(じゅ)となるべきタンボーという名(めい)のあのちんぴら文(ぶん)士(し)のことなどお忘(わす)れになっていることだろう。

     Mochiron Akademi kaīn no oi de, shōrai kyōju to naru beki Tanbō to iu mei no ano chinpira bunshi no koto nado owasure ni natte iru koto darō.

     He is of course the nephew of a member of the Academy, a future professor by the name of Tambor, a literary hoodlum destined to be forgotten.

4. an apprentice yakuza, a low-ranking gangster, a young member of an organized crime group
   • 1996, Jirō Akagawa, Shinguru, →ISBN, page 131:

     本(ほん)当(とう)にチンピラなので、もし和(かず)代(よ)の方(ほう)で見(み)たとしても、顔(かお)は分(わか)らなかったろう。しかし、チンピラの方(ほう)では、しっかり和(かず)代(よ)の顔(かお)が頭(あたま)に入(はい)っていたのだ。

     Hontō ni chinpira na no de, moshi Kazuyo no hō de mita to shite mo, kao wa wakaranakattarō. Shikashi, chinpira no hō de wa, shikkari Kazuyo no kao ga atama ni haitte ita no da.

     Because he’s a real low-level guy, even if Kazuyo sees him, she won’t know his face, right. But those low-level guys absolutely have Kazuyo’s face in mind.

Usage notes

The katakana spelling may be more common.

Further reading

• Entry at Gogen-Allguide (in Japanese)
• Entry at Nihon Jiten (in Japanese)