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Word 3832 of 4449

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奴

やっこ

servant of a samurai household; fellow; chilled tofu (冷奴)

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 夏はやっぱり冷奴がおいしい。

    なつはやっぱりひややっこがおいしい。

    Chilled tofu really is good in summer.

  2. 江戸時代の奴は武家に仕える下男だった。

    えどじだいのやっこはぶけにつかえるげなんだった。

    In the Edo period a yakko was a manservant in a samurai household.

  3. 祭りでは奴の行列が町を練り歩いた。

    まつりではやっこのぎょうれつがまちをねりあるいた。

    At the festival a procession of yakko paraded through the town.

  4. 奴凧を上げたことがありますか。

    やっこだこをあげたことがありますか。

    Have you ever flown a yakko kite?

Common patterns

冷奴
chilled tofu (a summer dish)
奴凧
yakko kite, shaped like a servant with outstretched arms
奴さん
the yakko figure; that fellow

Memory tip

Read this entry as やっこ, the Edo-period manservant, which survives today mainly in 冷奴 (tofu cut square like the servant's crest) and 奴凧. The same kanji read やつ is the rough slang 'guy', a different word.

Kanji in this word

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What does 奴 mean?