80027
I came across this entry in wwwjdic: 九百, くひゃく (arch) (derog) fool; idiot Is
there a fun story explaining how "900" = "fool"?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-07T17:13:19.213
80026
2020-08-07T20:37:25.003
31150
question
etymology
九百, くひゃく (arch) (derog) fool; idiot
First you need a little background on old Japanese currency. Back in the Edo
period, a 文{もん} was the lowest denominator of currency. A 貫{かん} is a weight
measurement (3.75 kg), but is also the weight of 1000 文, which were stringed
together to make 10 rolls of 100 coins and those rolls themselves would be
used in payment.

九百 comes from 九百文, which is 100 文 short of a 貫. So it is inferring that the
person is lacking intelligence, though from my research I can't tell if the
phrase is literal (cannot properly count and therefore a fool) or metaphorical
(likening the person to a 貫short 100 文).

Incidentally, there is a similar saying in English: "a few cents short of a
dollar." This one is definitely used metaphorically, meaning the person is not
"all there".
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-07T20:37:25.003
80027
2020-08-07T20:37:25.003
9508
80026
answer