In loco?

心神耗弱
shin.shin.kou.jaku

Literally: heart – soul – decrease – weak

Alternately: Decreased mental capacity. Having lost the ability to judge right and wrong and act accordingly. This is actually a legal and medical term indicating diminished responsibility: that someone cannot be held fully responsible for their actions because of the effects of drugs, mental disorders, or similar factors. (Note, however, that the proper response to this state is not “give the person even more power”!)

Notes: This is a compound of compounds: 心神 is “mind,” “spirit,” or even “intent”; 耗弱 is a weakened state caused by something being worn down or degraded over time.

In some situations 耗 may be read as mou, but for the purposes of this yojijukugo, only kou is considered valid.

ShinShinKouJakuList

A list of notable cases in which this resulted in a reduced sentence. Source = Mainichi Shinbun.

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 In loco?

  1. Pingback: The Durham yojijukugo | landofnudotcom

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