奸 vs 姦
Entry posted by jbradfor
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[i hope I don't offend anyone with this topic.]
I was absolutely shocked to see 奸詐 used in a kids comic (in Yotsuba over here). I had no idea what 奸詐 meant, but I always thought that 奸, simplified form of 姦, was a Really Bad Word , and I couldn't image how it could be used here.
So I was very surprised to find that meant something as mild as "treachery / devious / a rogue".
Looking further, I realized that 奸 itself is not just the simplified form of 姦, but is also a traditional character in its own right.
I'm flabbergasted. What prompted them to merge 姦 in with 奸?
I realize that 奸 does have slightly negative connotations. But they are really really minor relative to 姦.
[At least one question I've had was solved, why did they think that 姦 was really that much simpler than 奸. Turns out it's a case of merging a traditional character into another existing traditional character, rather than changing one traditional character into one simplified character.]
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