はりぼて

Japanese

Alternative spellings
張りぼて 張ぼて

はりぼて (haribote): traditional 'papier-mâché dogs.

Etymology

Compound of 張り (hari, “stretching; gluing; covering”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 張る (haru, “to stretch something; to glue something flat onto something else; to cover something with something flat”)) +‎ ぼて (bote, “woven bamboo basket”).

First cited to a publication dated 1814–1846.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) はりぼて [hàríbóté] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ha̠ɾʲibo̞te̞]

Noun

はりぼて or ハリボテ • (haribote) 

1. [from roughly 1814] a papier-mâché creation, such as a toy or a theater prop

   Synonym: 張り子 (hariko)

2. [date uncertain] something created as a fake, a mock-up of something

   ようこそ！ハリボテの城(しろ)へ！

   Yōkoso! Haribote no shiro e!

   Welcome to the fake castle!

3. [date uncertain] (figurative) a sham, an illusion, an attempt to fake something, often for sugarcoating a problem

   張(は)りぼての景(けい)気(き)をつくってきたが、実(じっ)体(たい)経(けい)済(ざい)は低(てい)調(ちょう)のままだ。

   Haribote no keiki o tsukutte kita ga, jittai keizai wa teichō no mama da.

   This created a sham upswing, but the real economy is still sluggish.

Derived terms

• (short) ぼて (bote)