Abbreviation quiz: things you might not actually know? From everyday terms to youth slang

rice with raw egg (tamago kake gohan)

TKG refers to tamago kake gohan (rice with raw egg) and is an abbreviation formed from the initials of Tamago Kake Gohan. Even before it came to be called “TKG,” tamago kake gohan had long been beloved by the Japanese. It’s said that the abbreviation “TKG” began to spread after the 2007 publication of the cookbook 365 Days of Tamago Kake Gohan.

shochu highball

Chūhai is short for “shōchū highball,” combining the “chū” from shōchū and the “high” from highball. It refers to an alcoholic drink made by mixing a distilled spirit such as shōchū with carbonated water. A highball is the name of a cocktail, with the original being whiskey mixed with soda water. In the 1980s, a low-alcohol beverage using shōchū as a substitute for whiskey in a highball became popular, and in 1984, Takara Shuzo’s “Takara Can Chūhai,” launched amid a shōchū boom, reportedly became a big hit.

Understood

Because “ryōkai” (got it/understood) is used so often in back-and-forth conversations, especially in messaging apps where efficiency is valued, it has gradually been shortened. The flow went from “ryōkai” to “ryo,” and then to just “r.” So how you write out ‘ryōkai’ might even reveal your generation.

textbook(s)

Precisely because it’s a term we’ve used for so long, I think many people assume “textbook” is the official name. If you think of it as a book used for a subject, the official name makes sense, but because it’s less familiar and longer, it comes across as rather stiff.

staple bread

When bread culture spread in Japan, because bread was a staple food in foreign countries, it became known as “bread for staple food,” which was gradually shortened as it took root. There are also various theories, such as that it came to be called “shokupan” (eating bread) to distinguish it from “keshipan,” an eraser-like kneaded rubber used when drawing.