ちんぷんかんぷん

How do people use ちんぷんかんぷん?

Casual and very common, from schoolkids to grown-ups complaining about tax forms. It works like a noun or a na-adjective, usually with the person who’s lost marked by には: “私にはちんぷんかんぷんだ” (it’s gibberish to me), or past tense “ちんぷんかんぷんだった”. You’ll often see it in katakana, チンプンカンプン, which makes the sound effect stand out.

Also said チンプンカンプン, 珍紛漢紛

ちんぷんかんぷん in real sentences

• 僕にはちんぷんかんぷんだった。

  Boku ni wa chinpunkanpun datta.

  That was all Greek to me.

  Tatoeba, sentence by Blanka_Meduzo, translation by blay_paul, CC BY 2.0 FR

• アインシュタインの相対性理論は私にはちんぷんかんぷんだ。

  Ainshutain no sōtaisei riron wa watashi ni wa chinpunkanpun da.

  Einstein’s theory of relativity is Greek to me.

  Tatoeba, sentence by mookeee, translation by shekitten, CC BY 2.0 FR

Where does ちんぷんかんぷん come from?

The kanji spellings (珍紛漢, 珍糞漢 and others) are ateji, chosen for sound alone, according to both Wiktionary and Nihon Kokugo Daijiten. English Wiktionary says it imitates spoken Chinese, while Nihon Kokugo Daijiten gives two theories: it either mocked the heavy Chinese-style vocabulary of Confucian scholars, or it parrots the speech of foreigners. The short form ちんふんかん shows up in a 1687 actor critique, and the doubled ちんぷんかんぷん in a 1780 comic book, so like English “Greek” it has been a way to call something foreign-sounding nonsense for more than three centuries.

Mistakes learners make with ちんぷんかんぷん

Using it as a polite answer. Telling a client or a teacher “ちんぷんかんぷんです” sounds like a shrug and a joke at once; “よく分かりませんでした” (I didn’t quite understand) is the safe version.

Other Japanese idioms like ちんぷんかんぷん

• ちんぷんかん (chinpunkan: the shorter, older form)