首
くび
hepburn kubi
neck
Part of speech · noun
Pattern visualization
Examples
- 首が痛いです。My neck hurts.
- 会社をクビになりました。I got fired from the company.
Collocations
首 (kubi, neck)クビ (kubi, "fired" — slang, often katakana)首になる (kubi ni naru, to be fired)首を切る (kubi wo kiru, to fire someone — literal "cut the neck")首が回らない (kubi ga mawaranai, drowning in debt)
Mnemonic
首 kubi — neck + the figurative "fired". Etymology: feudal Japanese execution by 斬首 (zanshu, beheading) was the ultimate punishment, so 首を切る ("cut the neck") slid metonymically into "dismiss from job". Modern conversation favors katakana 「クビ」 for the slangy fire sense. Idiom 首が回らない ("neck won't turn") = drowning in debt. A body part stretched into labor and economic vocabulary. Onyomi しゅ (shu): 首相 (prime minister), 部首 (radical), 首都 (capital).
Quick check
Meaning and etymology of "会社をクビになる"?