The preeminent hobby of the times

Posted on February 17, 2021 by Confanity

Only in small part due to the weather, sadly.

蟄居屏息
chi-.kkyo.hei.soku

Literally: “hibernation of insects” – exist; reside – fence – breath

Alternately: Staying indoors and keeping quiet. Waiting inside with bated breath.

Notes: This was apparently also the name of an Edo era punishment for samurai who had committed certain crimes; essentially, house arrest.

I'm a little concerned about the white things scattered around

Now imagine a blizzard outside

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.

View all posts by Confanity →

This entry was posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo and tagged barely breathing, crime and punishment, Edo era, 蟄居, hiding away, house arrest, shut indoors, 刑罰, 屏息, 江戸時代. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to The preeminent hobby of the times

locksleyu says:

February 19, 2021 at 12:22 pm

Thanks for another great kanji compound. Didn’t know this one either (:

By the way, the image is really nice, did you make it or pull it from somewhere?

Reply
- Confanity says:
  
  February 21, 2021 at 10:37 pm
  
  Hi again! Pretty much all the media for the 四字熟語 posts are c/o Google Image Search; if I ever turn this into a for-profit venture I’ll need to carefully source a lot of stuff, or even hire an illustrator to make new art.
  
  Reply