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Recently I've been reading the Spice and Wolf manga and came across two words
for "idiot" I've never seen before: たわけ and 間{ま}抜{ぬ}け

Previously I've only encountered 馬鹿{バカ} and 阿呆{あほう}, with the understanding 阿呆
is the Kansai "version" of 馬鹿.

This piqued my interest so I searched a thesaurus, and I found all these
words:  
愚{おろ}か者{もの} ／ 抜{ぬ}け作{さく} ／ 与太郎{よたろう} ／ おたんこなす ／ おたんちん ／ べらぼうめ ／ とんま  
and many many more, though they appear to be a lot less common (tell me if I
missed something common).

Are the usages of these words simply down to personal preference? Or is there
something that would cause one to choose one word over another?  
Do the different words give off a different kind of "feeling", both of the
person using it and of the person receiving it?  
Are there any regional (or temporal) "biases" of the words being used (like
how 阿呆 is used mainly in Kansai)?

I'm primarily interested in the first two words I mentioned, and how they
compare to 馬鹿, but a more comprehensive answer would be much appreciated.
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2016-06-08T16:40:23.040
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2016-06-08T18:32:26.770
1497
question
word-choice usage
Differences between words for "idiot"
馬鹿 vs 阿呆 is an interesting theme on linguistic geography. In fact it's once
been thoroughly investigated by a TV program, followed by academia. Here is
the full map of local vocabulary for "fool/idiot".

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jEwoN.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jEwoN.gif)

(from [this page](http://www.seikei2.juntak.net/2007/1128/1128.html))

In a very simplified way you can say あほ is prevalent in Kansai, たわけ in Greater
Nagoya or Chubu, だら in some Japan Sea coastal areas, ばか widespread in other
than Kansai, and so on. They also show a loose concentric distribution from
the traditional linguistic center, that is, old capital Kyoto.

> 間抜け

This word mainly means "goofer", so slightly different from "idiot". We also
say （間が）抜けている.

> 愚か者 ／ 抜け作 ／ 与太郎 ／ おたんこなす ／ おたんちん ／ べらぼうめ ／ とんま

Most of these words are outdated and you can't serious swear at people with
them today. べらぼう is a typical Edo-ite speech. 与太郎 or 与太 is now likely to mean
"tall tale" rather than "fool". 愚か者 may be the most literal word for "idiot",
but not for real swearing, unless you're a stereotypical haughty person in
manga.

There is [a categorized thesaurus entry for
馬鹿](http://thesaurus.weblio.jp/content/%E9%A6%AC%E9%B9%BF), but I don't think
many of them are actively used. In my personal experience, basic words
compatible with "idiot" (within Standard Japanese) are only ばか, あほ, and ぼけ,
and as a Kanto resident, I feel it becomes stronger in this order; but Kansai
people might not agree with me.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-08T18:25:43.313
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2016-06-08T18:32:26.770
2016-06-08T18:32:26.770
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answer