Saturday, 1 March 2014

Good News : how about お知らせ (oshirase) instead of 福音 (hukuin)?

The word 福音 (fukuin) is used in Japanese bible for the meaning of "Good News".  But this word is not commonly used word in Japan. Actually I can say that 福音 (fukuin) is one of the "technical terms" or "jargons" used only in Japanese Bible

How about using the word お知らせ (oshirase) instead?  Good News means "news from God".  And the word お知らせ (oshirase) is very widely used to indicate "news".  Actually, 知らせ (shirase) means "news" and お (o) makes  the meaning of "news" more thorough.   So I think that the word お知らせ (oshirase) is suitable one to indicate the "news" from God.

I just want to show you by Google as indicator how often are 福音 (fukuin) and  お知らせ (oshirase) used in Japanese websites:

福音 (fukuin) : 15,600,000 results

お知らせ (oshirase): 231,000,000 results

The data above shows that  お知らせ (oshirase) would be used in Internet nearly 15 times more than 福音 (hukuin).

When 福音 (fukuin) is searched by Google, 19 out of 30 top-listed websire is related to Christianity.
On the other hand, 0 out of 30 top-listed websire is related to Christianity when お知らせ (oshirase) is searched.   This also implies that the word 福音 (hukuin) is used inside Japanese Christian community only.


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