# エッチ



## Jmangeo

Hi everyone,

I have a doubt with this word in katakana:

*エツチ*

It's the title of a chapter in a manga. The full title is: エツチしよ!
That's all context. I hope it be enough.

Thank you in advance!

*EDIT: *エツチ appears like "H" in the full title.


----------



## Demurral

^^ the "tsu" between the "e" and the "chi" should be a small one. That would turn "etsuchi" into "ecchi": dirty, pervert, Hentai. ecchi is the japanese name to "H", the first letter of Hentai.

ecchi shiyo: let's go dirty/hot!


am I right?


----------



## Ocham

Right.

So, it should be written エッチ. Its tone is light and 
a bit commical, not too serious.


----------



## Flaminius

Demurral said:


> ecchi shiyo: let's go dirty/hot!


I am not sure what going dirty is.  It may be an English idiom I don't know.  

As a noun, エッチ means sex.  エッチする is to have sex with someone.


----------



## Jmangeo

Flaminius said:


> I am not sure what going dirty is.  It may be an English idiom I don't know.
> 
> As a noun, エッチ means sex.  エッチする is to have sex with someone.



Ok, thanks! It was エッチ, that's right.

The manga isn't hentai so it isn't dirty  lol. Its tone is light how someone already said.
By the way... Why "ecchi" is written in katakana?


----------



## Demurral

ecchi is an english, foreign word...therefore it is written in katakana. isn't?

Flam, maybe you are not wrong, but me. I'm neither english native.


----------



## Wishfull

At first エッチ　was invented to express 変態　（sexual deviate, abnormality). It is the first letter of Hentai; "H". It is the pronounciation of "H", so it is written in katakana.

BUT the time has changed and the usage has changed. Now we use it as light tough of "sex".


----------



## Aoyama

> At first エッチ　was invented to express 変態　（sexual deviate, abnormality). It is the first letter of Hentai


That is true, and one may wonder _why_ ...


----------



## Wishfull

Aoyama said:


> That is true, and one may wonder _why_ ...


 
I personally analyse that the change of usage or nuance was bought by Go Nagai's anime and Gyarugo.
エッチ　became famous through Go Nagai's anime;Harenchi-gakuen in around 1970.
It became light tough, by using it by young girls in 1980-1990.
Some TV dramas might contributed to the change, though I don't know well.

edit; My analysis was wrong. It was Sanma Akashiya who was the cause of the change of its usage.
They say in these days "ecchi" is indirect expression of "sex."
They say there are many theories about the origin of "ecchi."
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/エッチ


----------



## Aoyama

Enlightening, 本間に...


----------



## Lexy1582

I heard that エッチ is from an English word, horny. Since horny is an English word,
it makes sense for me to write the Japanese word in katakana. But I am not sure
whether what I have heard is true or not.


----------



## Aoyama

Horny would work for H, but what about E (if you accept that エッチ stands for H.E) ?


----------



## SlimGee

Aoyama said:


> Horny would work for H, but what about E (if you accept that エッチ stands for H.E) ?



It's only from H, just like the nickname of the protagonist from the old novel 少年H (しょうねんエッチ). However, due to today's connotations with エッチ, in my experience people tend to spell out the letter H as エーチ these days. Anyone that has similar experiences?

Gustav


----------



## Aoyama

I agree with the above.


----------

