Japanese

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パチンコ (pachinko): a pachinko parlor.

Etymology

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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) +‎ (-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

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Noun

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パチンコ (pachinko

  1. a form of vertical pinball used for gambling, sometimes found in arcades
  2. a slingshot, stonebow
  3. (slang) a pistol

Usage notes

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The slingshot sense may be more commonly spelled in hiragana, as ぱちんこ.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Chinese: 柏青哥 (bóqīnggē)
  • English: pachinko

References

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  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN