Feb 27 2008
Word For The Day
Proving once again the appropriateness of my long-standing affinity for Japanese culture and tradition, I give you this Word For The Day (this is a rare non-English WFTD, merited by its elegance and compactness):
Tsujigiri: “The testing of a new sword on a chance passerby.”
If you ever wondered why the Japanese evolved that highly intricate and ritualized politeness, the fact that there’s a single word in their language for this concept shows you the reasons for it.
Metaphorically, I practice tsujigiri all the time.