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This is a word I learned by reading and not by studying or in conversation
with Japanese.

After learning the kana years ago I had occasion to fly with JAL and the pre-
meal snack was a little packet of various savoury crunch things like nuts and
what I assume were a kind of rice cracker. Perhaps some included nori. On the
pack in hiragana as I recall was written "おつまみ". To what specifically does
this refer? I'm often surprised that my Japanophile friends don't know what
I'm talking about when I use this word.
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2011-06-09T04:57:46.507
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vocabulary definitions food
Does "おつまみ" (otsumami) mean "snack" or "rice crackers" or "crunchy snack" like chips and peanuts, or something else entirely?
In my understanding, everything you could eat when you drink beer/osake is
otsumami.
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2011-06-09T05:04:37.293
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つまむ can mean "to grab," so anything you can just grab casually and eat
(usually with some sort of alcohol), or anything you can つまむ, is therefore
おつまみ. There's lots of words that are just the noun conjugation of verbs,
especially in food! (おにぎり、煮物、おひや... okay, not all of those follow the pattern,
but you get the idea!) There's also another word つまみ食い, which is essentially
just eating without or before formally sitting down and saying いただきます.

Dried squid legs are one of my favorite おつまみ. Definitely not crunchy.
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2011-06-09T15:38:38.417
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Otsumami means everything you pick and eat besides alcohol. In spain, TAPAS.
It can be proper cooked food, or snuck.
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