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+--- Thread: Kanji in compounds that suggest wrong meaning. (/thread-9326.html)
Kanji in compounds that suggest wrong meaning. - Rayath - 2012-04-14
Often when we don’t really know a word we can still guess its meaning from kanji. But there are times when the real meaning of the word is a lot different from what we have guessed, sometimes even the opposite. Did you encounter such word-traps?
My top picks are:
生前, which logically should be “before one was born” or something, but it really means “while alive, during one's lifetime”.
尊大, which to me look like a compound for “highly respected” or “respecting highly” , but instead means “haughtiness, pomposity, self-sufficiency”.
Kanji in compounds that suggest wrong meaning. - blackbrich - 2012-04-14
尊大 makes sense doesn't it though. Highly respected, by themselves.