Is it really cute?　本当に可愛いかい？

What is cute? It seems that this word has swept the world and I wonder if this rage started in Japan or not?

The word かわいい[kawaii] or cute in English has an rather interesting history. As it turns out Kawaii was one of the sangozoku 三語族, (three word family) that was coined in the 1980s for young girls to express all their feelings. I think that this sangozoku term was used to express the limited vocabulary of these young girls whom apparently would use these three words most frequently. The three words being: 「ウッソー」[Uso], false, wrong;「ホントー」,[honto-]really; and「カワユーイ」[kawayu-i] cute. It has been criticized that girls these days have a shallow vocabulary. From the days of the burikko gals (ぶりっ子), (the girls who try to act cute), the word Kawaii was not always a term used for women and children to mean charming. In fact the word origin came from the word 「顔映ゆし」[kahowa yushi] or the state at which one’s face turn’s red with shame, this meaning seems to have found widespread use during the Kamakura period. However, later during the Muromachi period the meaning changed from “the state at which looking at someone makes them feel uneasy or shame” to “sorrow, misery or pity”. Today’s use of the word, いとしい[Itoshii], beloved or 「大事にしたい」[daiji nishitai], cherish, came about from about the Edo period. Finally, it wasn’t until the beginning of the Meiji period that the meaning became known as “charming, or lovely”. I could just see it now, 「あの子は可愛いね」[Ano ko ha kawaii]; today’s translation: “That girl’s cute”, The Muromachi translation: “That girl’s miserable”!!!