nawashi
n.— «The unfortunate side effect is the influx of what I call “the kimono boys.” They’re American white guys who call themselves “authentic Japanese rope masters.”…These rope masters say they have studied “the traditional Japanese way of the rope”—although most of them have never actually visited Japan. But their conversation is strewn with Japanese words, and they often give themselves the title “Nawashi,” which they say means “rope bondage artist.” And, yeah, they often show up at fetish events wearing kimonos.» —“Control Tower & Kink Calendar: Nawashi Syndrome” by Mistress Matisse The Stranger (Seattle, Wash.) Feb. 9, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In Japanese, the word san (さん) means “three” and kyuu (きゅう) means “nine.” Said together, the words sound like English “thank you,” so back in the 1990s, when pagers were all the rage among Japanese teens, typing 999 was a quick way to punningly...
Mark in Bismarck, North Dakota, spent years as a sailor, and wonders about the term sea painter, meaning “a rope attached to a lifeboat.” Why painter? The word may derive from Middle French pendeur meaning “a kind of rope that...