In the beginning there was the word. More precisely, the prefix. When the Heisei Era officially started, on Jan. 8, 1989, Japan¡¯s economy was still merrily bubbling along. That must have been one reason for the popularity of ³¬ (³¦³ó¨, hyper-). The prefix itself is anything but new, but the idea to make just everything a ¡°hyperlative¡± is an early Heisei thing. The 1990 edition of the authoritative dictionary ¬F´úÓÃÕZ¤Î»ùµAÖª×R (¡±Gendai Y¨go no Kiso Chishiki,¡± ¡°The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words¡°) lists the prefix, in its shortened katakana version ¥Á¥ç (cho), as one of the newcomers of the year.
³¬ was to outlive both the bubble years and the ¡°lost decade¡± that followed. And even though expressions like ¥Á¥ç¥Ù¥ê¥° (choberigu, hyper-very goo[d]) or ¥Á¥ç¥Ù¥ê¥Ð (choberiba, hyper-very ba[d]) today will make most people shudder ¡ª provided they understand them ¡ª it is still quite common to stress something with ³¬. For better, as in ³¬¤´™CÏÓ (³¦³ó¨ go-kigen, a hyper-good mood), or for worse, like ³¬¸¹Á¢¤Ä (³¦³ó¨ hara tatsu, hyper-angry), ³¬-emphasis will remain with us in the ÁîºÍ•r´ú (Reiwa Jidai, Reiwa Era).
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.