LA, LA, LA, LA LA LA, LA-LA-LA LA LA LA

(It’s a French song; very appropriate.)

傍若無人
bou.jaku.bu.jin

Literally: bystander – possibly / (young) – nothing – person

Alternately: Doing or saying whatever the hell you want without caring that you’re in public. Acting however you feel like without consideration for the thoughts or feelings of one’s fellow humans. Arrogance. A complete lack of regard or empathy for others. In a word, presidential, ha ha ha.

Notes: Writing boujaku as 暴若 (no actual meaning) is an error, as is reading 無人 as mujin. However, replacing 傍 with 旁 is an acceptable variation.

This compound comes to us from the Records of the Grand Historian, a Han Dynasty era historical text. In a chapter on the biographies of assassins, it discusses one Jing Ke – who would later try and fail to assassinate the king of Qin – and his tendency, when drinking, to sing loudly or break down in tears and otherwise make a nuisance of himself.

BouJakuHaruHi

Perhaps justified iff (math) you have the godlike power to rewrite reality itself.

About Confanity

I love the written word more than anything else I've had the chance to work with. I'm back in the States from Japan for grad school, but still studying Japanese with the hope of becoming a translator -- or writer, or even teacher -- as long as it's something language-related.
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1 Response to LA, LA, LA, LA LA LA, LA-LA-LA LA LA LA

  1. Pingback: Thoughtful social distancing | landofnudotcom

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