Talk:Baka
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I have never heard this folk story before. I believe that it is an incorrect interpretation of a Chinese idiom 指鹿為馬 (point to a deer and call it a horse): In Qin dynasty, 趙高, the high official who really held the power, wanted to test the loyality of other officals (to him). To do so, he pointed to a deer and call it a horse, then anyone who dared to correct his mistake was regarded as a treat and was later eliminated.
Therefore, this idiom means "confound right and wrong intentionally". Wshun
- I'll have to look into it, but I had always heard the story that Zhao Gao eliminated--by either firing or killing, can't recall--those advisors who failed to correct him, since he didn't want to be surrounded by yes men. Internet sources everywhere seem to contradict each other, I suppose I'll hit up a library someday soon. --AsianAstronaut 12:03, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Many kanji in Japanese have legendary etymologies, more used as mnemonics than chosen for accuracy. User:Ashibaka
I heard that baka is derived from Sanskrit "moha" (unconsciousness, delusion of mind, ignorance). "moha" is usually transcribed as 莫迦 in Chinese characters. 馬鹿 was originally a Buddhist jargon and seems "ateji" or characters that represent the sound without the meaning. But it's very likely that the coiner(s) assosiated ばか with 指鹿為馬 when selecting the characters 馬 and 鹿. --Nanshu 03:01, 18 Jan 2004 (UTC)
Does this entry really belong in Wikipedia? What's next, neko?
- neko? what is this neko? the only def i could find was cat. def plz --Rey
What do you think about the theory that Baka is derived from portuguese "Vaca", (Cow) and became popular after the japanese-portuguese trade routes? Is that just a false etymology? (If there exists examples before the trade route, it should disprove this theory with certainty...)
- i got ¥20 says it's false --Rey
What the hell is that last piece of garbage about dancing bakas? That should be taken out.
