Berkeley Diary
Masaki YAMAOKA
May/11/2005 My Finds to Word
Lag(4) Wisdom Teeth VS. Oya-shirazu
Today I ran into Sue Rim, Tae's younger sister on the campus.
She is baby-faced and looks like a high school student.
But as a matter of fact, she is a "Sue"perior student. She will
graduate from the department of economics, UCB in a week.
She told me her parents would come to attend the graduation ceremony.
She looked
very happy and she has a bright future before her, but she
sometimes makes a wry face. I felt curious, and asked her, "what the
matter?" She answered, "I've just had my wisdom teeth
removed. That
hurts!"
I could not understand what she said. When I
asked her again, she pointed to her right cheek. And she said, "It
is painful, here!" Then I understood "wisdom tooth" meant "oya-shirazu"
in Japanese.
After I came back to my apartment, I looked up
"wisdom tooth" in an English dictionary on the internet
(WordReference.com).
It explained it as follows:
"wisdom_tooth---- any of the last 4 teeth on
each side of the upper and lower jaw; the last of the permanent teeth
to erupt (between ages 16 and 21)."
In Japanese, "oya-shirazu" means "His or
her parents don't know it." I also looked up this word in a
Japanese dictionary (Kojien). I translated it into English as follows:
"oyashirazu-ba----a common name of the
third
molar tooth. The 4 teeth (upper and lower, left and right) of man's 32
teeth to erupt at last."
What is the derivation of this word in
Japanese? According to an account, all parents feel pleasure when their
baby's teeth come out. But after the children grow up to teenage, when
they cut their third molars, their parents lose an interest in
their daughter's or son's teeth. According to another account, in
ancient times, the
lifespan of humankind was very short. When the children cut their third
molars, their parents were already dead.
I don't know which
account is true. Therefore, to ascertain the truth, we have to research
the
historical materials to make sure when the oldest use of the word
began. In any case, I find it very interesting.
Eruption of the third molars is often
accompanied by intense toothache. According to dental medical research,
contemporary man' jaw has become smaller. We regard these teeth
a negative sign. The word "oya-shirazu" is similar to "on-shirazu" in
sound. The latter has very negative meaning. It means
"ungrateful person." Each of these words gives a negative impression.
From a quite different perspective, when
our third molars erupt, we acquire the wisdom. Perhaps we can say
English
is intellectual, but
Japanese is emotional!