Everything is more powerful when it rhymes

元気溌剌
gen.ki.hatsu.ratsu

Literally: beginning – spirit – vigorous – opposed

Alternately: Full of energy. Bursting with pep, vim, vigor. Lively.

Notes: This is a compound of compounds. 元気 is a very common term in Japanese, and denotes a broad theme that we might call energy, health, spirit, or wellbeing. 溌剌 is rarely found other than as part of this compound, and originally referred to a fish leaping out of the water, from which we get a metaphorical image of active vigor.

溌 may be written in its alternate form as 潑, and 剌 may be written as 溂, without any change in meaning or pronunciation. Since all of these characters fall outside of the standard set, though, hatsuratsu may also be rendered phonetically in kana as はつらつ or ハツラツ.

So full of energy that your hands become rabbits!

Apparently used as the catchphrase of energy drink Oronamin C

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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