Doodle

Doodles (落書き, らくがき, ラクガキ, ドゥードゥル) are pictures drawn at random, or the act of doing so.

Contents [hide]

1 Overview

2 Definition

3 Etymology

4 Related Articles

5 External Links

5.1 English

5.2 Japanese

6 Article in Other Languages

Overview

Doodle (落書き\らくがき\ラクガキ rakugaki, lit. "graffiti" / ドゥードゥル, lit. "doodle") can refer to a quick rough sketch or scribbles. This article will go in detail about the Japanese usage of the word, known as graffiti.

Definition

Writing/written in a place that is a nuisance to others. "To scribble on the wall".
Writing/written on a lighter note. "Scribbling on a piece of notepaper".
Badly written or drawn. "Just doodles".

From the eighth edition of the Sanseido's Japanese Dictionary (2021). In the seventh edition, only the meaning of doodling on gates, walls, etc. was listed.

In the seventh edition of the Sanseido Modern New Japanese Dictionary released in 2023, a description of "a humble way of saying something, such as an illustration published on a social networking service," was added as word meaning category 2.

Etymology

Graffiti is a jūbako reading (to read the upper characters in on'yomi and the lower characters in kun'yomi) of the Japanese-Chinese word "rakusho" (落書). Rakusho is an anonymous leaflet that expressed criticism or social satire of politics, society, or people in power from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. Such leaflets were also called "落とし文", but the Chinese form "落書" is more ancient. They were also pasted on the walls and fences of the other party's house, which led to its current meaning of "graffiti" (落書き, Etymological Dictionary).

Graffiti　Illustration　Scribble　Sketch　Rough Sketch　Doodling　Doodles