Ever heard the phrase ‘She wears the trousers in the relationship’? (Or, for our American readers – who wears the pants!?) Most native English speakers will probably be familiar with the expression, or at least have a vague understanding of the meaning. Something about authority, right? Right. Well, there exists a couple of words that express very similar feelings in Japanese that we’re going to look at today.
The first:
亭主関白
ていしゅかんぱく
Chauvinistic husband
Its counterpart?
嚊天下
かかあでんか
Overbearing wife
Of course, as we’ve come to expect, we will rarely use these terms with such fixed translations, Instead, they are far better used woven into the sentence. First up though, let’s explore the meaning behind the terms a little more. It often helps to look up such terms in Japanese-Japanese dictionaries to really get a feel for the meanings, and also to learn how to explain them yourself if asked!
For 亭主関白 then:
亭主関白とは、家庭内で、夫が支配権を持っていること。
かていないで、おっとが しはいけんを もっている こと。
‘Teishukanpaku’ is a term stating that the husband has authority in the home.
And かかあ天下. The term is often written without the first kanji, because there are two variations: 嬶天下 and 嚊天下. Also of note is that the term can be read ‘かかあてんか’ (tenka instead of denka).
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