The first theory revolves around the ancient word 眼張る (がんはる/がんばる). They both take us back to the Edo period (1603–1868), so stick with me through the next two sections, because I think it will help you to understand the word a little better. The story of ganbaru would be short and simple if long ago someone just fused 頑 and 張る together and called it a day.īut it's much more complicated than that-so much more complicated, in fact, that there are two prevailing theories on the origin of ganbaru. The simplest way to define ganbaru is "to persevere." That's how we define it on our kanji learning app WaniKani, and if you're stretching your stubbornness, you could say you're joining us to persevere and stick with it.ĭespite this connection, 頑張る is ateji, so the "stubborn" and "stretch" meanings of its kanji have nothing to do with the creation of the word-though feel free to use them to remember ganbaru, 頑, or 張る. And yet the combined meanings of 頑 and 張る actually do make some sense in relation to the meaning of がんばる, though it may just be coincidence. This word is a type of ateji, which means its kanji were chosen for their phonetic sounds and not for their meanings.
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