パチンコ
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Japanese[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Appears from the Taishō period in the early 1900s.
Compound of ぱちん (pachin, onomatopoeia for a small hard thing striking something else; compare English kaching) + 子 (-ko, suffix used to form nouns, often diminutive).
A pinball-like children's game was first called ガチャンコ (gachanko) of similar derivation, with this more gambling-oriented machine becoming popular from around 1947.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
- a form of vertical pinball used for gambling, sometimes found in arcades
- a slingshot, stonebow
- (slang) a pistol
Usage notes[edit]
The slingshot sense may be more commonly spelled in hiragana, as ぱちんこ.
Derived terms[edit]
- パチンコ台 (pachinkodai, “pachinko machine”)
- パチンコ屋 (pachinko-ya, “pachinko parlor”)
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN