甘えん坊 – I am not spoiled, I am an amaenbo
元記事URL: https://japaneseuniverse.com/2022/04/06/i-am-not-spoiled-i-am-an-amaenbo/
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Spoiled is not amaenbo. The word 甘あまえん坊ぼう derives from the word 甘あまえる which can mean to be affectionate toward someone, to rely on someone to take care of them, to demand or accept kindness from someone, etc.
Table of Contents
甘えん坊 does not mean Spoiled
甘えん坊 (amaenbo) or 甘えんぼ (amaenbo) is often translated as spoiled. Some 甘えんぼう can be spoiled but this is wrong. If you call someone spoiled, this suggests that someone has harmed them by giving them too much. The word 甘えんぼう does not suggest any sort of harm from being over-indulged.
Don’t Blame your Parents
Instead, 甘えんぼう is more about the traits of the person making the demands and not the person giving in. So, if you say a child is ‘spoiled’ it suggests that the parents spoiled the child. 甘えんぼう just refers to a person or even an animal that is affectionate, demanding of attention or is dependent on someone else. This does not say anything about the actions of someone else. They may or may not be getting what they want in return.
How do you say Spoiled then?
If you want to ‘spoil’ someone you can use 甘やかす (amayakasu) which can mean to spoil or to pamper someone. So there is a difference between The following two sentences.
The cat is spoiled
The cat is an Amaenbo
Fro the second sentence if you want to translate Amaenbo, you could say a number of things. Pampered, affectionate, loving, indulge in its owner’s generosity, or whatever.
This should be a Loanword in English
Many years back when I first got my cat I was talking to another cat owner. She was explaining to me how after neutered male cats become very…loving? Affectionate? Demanding? She could not quite pick the right word to describe it. I knew what she meant though. She wanted to say that they become an Amaenbo.
