手前

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
手	前
て Grade: 1	まえ Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Compound of Old Japanese elements 手 (te, “hand”) +‎ 前 (mae, “front”), originally meaning “that which is just in front of one's hand”.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) てまえ [tèmáé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [te̞ma̠e̞]

Noun

手(て)前(まえ) • (temae) ^{←てまへ (temafe)?}

1. position that is just in front or before; in the nearer position

   あの店(みせ)は交(こう)差(さ)点(てん)の手(て)前(まえ)にある。

   Ano mise wa kōsaten no temae ni aru.

   That store is just in front of the intersection.

Pronoun

手(て)前(まえ) • (temae) ^{←てまへ (temafe)?}

1. (dated, humble, men's speech) I, me (who stands before you)
2. (rare, informal, sometimes derogatory) you

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “distant”): 奥(おく) (oku)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
手	前
て Grade: 1	まえ > めえ Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Corruption of temae. The vowel shift emphasizes the confrontational sense of the term. This flattening of diphthongs to monophthongs is characteristic of Tokyo's Shitamachi dialect. Compare おめえ (omē, from お前 (omae)), ねえ (nē, from ない), やべえ (yabē, from やばい (yabai)).

Alternative forms

• てめぇ, てめぇー, てめェー

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) てめえ [tèméé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [te̞me̞ː]

Pronoun

手(て)前(めえ) • (temē) 

1. (vulgar, derogatory, men's speech) you, you son of a bitch, you bastard

   手(て)前(めえ)、何(なに)しやがったんだ！

   Temē, nani shiyagatta n da!

   You bastard, what did you do!?

Usage notes

Usually spelled in hiragana as てめえ.

Synonyms

• 貴様(きさま) (kisama)
• 己(おのれ) (onore)

References

• 2000, Jonathan Bunt, Gillian Hall, The Oxford Starter Japanese Dictionary, First Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN