[EVA] (tangent)Language question

[Ryan Tyrrell]

From: Zhou Tai An <kain at pacific.net.sg>
Subject: Re: [EVA] [Eva] brief Q's and 1 comment


>
>>BTW, i know the word 'Hentai' has to do with the sleazy stuff but what is
>>its direct translation?
>
>Pervert. Literally "not normal" I think (Patrick, please check)


According to the mighty fine book "Japanese Street Slang" by 
Peter Constantine (ISBN 0-8348-0250) you are correct. Pervert,
or abnormal. There's also about 3 degrees of that particular
insult: "ecchi", basically a shortening of Hentai down to its first
letter(like calling someone a perv), the aforementioned "hentai",
and for those actually are actually perverted molesters, there's the
word "chikan", which I think is what Hitomi says in Escaflowne 
when the mole-man is trying to take her pendant. (sorry, couldn't
think of an EVA example)

For those interested in finding the words that you can't normally
find in a J-E dictionary, this book is a great reference, and a 
fascinating read. The writer wanted to show that Japaese is just 
as rich in slang as other languages, since it often isn't reflected in
dictionaries or language courses. He did quite a bit of research on the
fringes of Japanese culture(drug abusers, prostitutes & pimps, gangsters,
thieves) as well as the everyday slang one would hear in the office
or schoolyard. Also explored is the habit of using a single roman
letter as a sort of code for a whole word (like ecchi or H for Hentai) and
some words of Dutch, Portugese & English origin.

Apologies for being off topic, but I thought it might be of interest to
many.
-Ryan