パチンコ

Japanese
パチンコ (pachinko): a pachinko parlor.
A crude パチンコ (pachinko) sign in Taiwan. Note the ン (n) that looks more like ソ (so).

Etymology

Appears from the Taishō period in the early 1900s.

Compound of ぱちん (pachin, onomatopoeia for a small hard thing striking something else; compare English kaching) +‎ 子 (-ko, suffix used to form nouns, often diminutive).

A pinball-like children's game was first called ガチャンコ (gachanko) of similar derivation, with this more gambling-oriented machine becoming popular from around 1947.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

パチンコ (rōmaji pachinko)

  1. a form of vertical pinball used for gambling, sometimes found in arcades
  2. a slingshot, stonebow
  3. (slang) a pistol

Usage notes

The slingshot sense may be more commonly spelled in hiragana, as ぱちんこ.

Derived terms
  • パチンコ台 (だい) (pachinkodai, “pachinko machine”)
  • パチンコ屋 (や) (pachinko-ya, “pachinko parlor”)

Descendants

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
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