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INTEREST: Oxford Dictionary of English Adds 'Hikikomori'


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keikanna44



Joined: 12 Feb 2009
Posts: 155
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 1:09 pm Reply with quote
That's awesome! I use that term to describe myself sometimes and my lack of social contact. Very Happy
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Jaymie



Joined: 18 Jun 2009
Posts: 915
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 1:18 pm Reply with quote
I think that's a good thing, since there's never been a specific word to describe such a person even though they are quite common.
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28076004505531



Joined: 25 Oct 2008
Posts: 124
Location: Ohio, USA
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 1:30 pm Reply with quote
i like this term...

i like how it sounds....

now it's official...

i can use it over and over again...

to describe who?...(hmmmp)
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 1:33 pm Reply with quote
This is part of what makes English such a great language: it's ability to borrow words and expressions from other languages.
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Elfen Noir



Joined: 21 Mar 2006
Posts: 69
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 1:38 pm Reply with quote
I think the closest we have in English is agoraphobia. I know my uncle suffered from it back in the 1970's. The actual definition is a bit different but the actual suffering is almost identical. I know I have seen several American television programs that have dealt with it via a character over the years also. But, being a huge anime fan, I love that the Japanese word will now become more mainstream.
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TsukasaElkKite



Joined: 22 Nov 2005
Posts: 3945
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:10 pm Reply with quote
keikanna44 wrote:
I use that term to describe myself sometimes and my lack of social contact. Very Happy


Same here! Very Happy
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rizuchan
Collector Extraordinaire



Joined: 11 Mar 2007
Posts: 974
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:17 pm Reply with quote
Jaymie wrote:
I think that's a good thing, since there's never been a specific word to describe such a person even though they are quite common.


Actually...
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary wrote:
shut-in
n.
A person confined indoors by illness or disability. adj.

Confined to a home or hospital, as by illness.

Disposed to avoid social contact; excessively withdrawn or introverted.


I've seen "hikikomori" translated like this in some anime as well. Not ones where it's a big theme like Welcome to the NHK, but during scenes where its just referenced and such.
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InuNaruPokeAlchemist



Joined: 10 Sep 2009
Posts: 406
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:52 pm Reply with quote
Well, something otaku related just got added to the dictionary, that is awesome Very Happy
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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 3:40 pm Reply with quote
InuNaruPokeAlchemist wrote:
Well, something otaku related just got added to the dictionary, that is awesome :D


If this term is ever added to Meriam Webster's dictionary, that certainly would be quite interesting.

Though I wonder, how does the dictionary industry stay afloat now and days?
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_V_



Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Posts: 619
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 3:49 pm Reply with quote
.


God help us all
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neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:09 pm Reply with quote
Huh. That's kinda cool, though I figured it was already synonymous with agoraphobic?
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Spastic Minnow
Bargain Hunter
Exempt from Grammar Rules


Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 4595
Location: Gainesville, FL
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:33 pm Reply with quote
neocloud9 wrote:
Huh. That's kinda cool, though I figured it was already synonymous with agoraphobic?


Close,but that might also simply be the fear of the "place" or of open space itself. For an anime example Kai Mikawa from Seto no Hanayome/ My Bride is a Mermaid is described as agoraphobic but he is never described as hikikomori, because he suffers no fear of the public or social interaction. It's simply used as the opposite of claustrophobia. I don't think there is a specific term. I just looked up "fear of social interaction" and the term I found was simply "Social Phobia" and one of the pages I found included agoraphobia as a type of social phobia because it restricts social interaction but does clarify it's more about being intensely uncomfortable in an open space that is the problem.
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firedragon54738



Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 3113
Location: wisconsin
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:12 pm Reply with quote
So when I call my self a hikikomori people will now know what it means awesome
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Pocky Monster



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 237
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:10 pm Reply with quote
I would have never expected 'hikikomori' to be added in the Oxford dictionary, but cool nonetheless. Very Happy
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BrightxRingxFirefly



Joined: 25 Mar 2010
Posts: 156
Location: Kentucky, US
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:01 pm Reply with quote
It doesn't surprise me that they added it; the term was used in my psychology class a couple semesters ago and compared to agoraphobia. I think it's good that they are recognizing it.
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