The first item that we will take a look at is "キレる." Recently a Japanese friend asked how to translate "キレた”into English, specifically in an academic or scholarly context. She was particularly interested in the sense of 虐待 as related to between parent and child. A phrase often heard in modern English is "s/he is abusive" and abuse can be both "physical abuse" where a person hits another person or "verbal abuse" where a person tells another person that they are stupid, ugly or worthless. A specific instance of 虐待 where an individual loses control (キレた) could be translated simply as "was abusive" or "became abusive." However, the perpetrator can commit both physical and verbal abuse
because they have lost self-control, which would generally correspond to the meaning
of キレた, or in a very deliberate and controlled manner, which seems to be quite different
from キレた. An interesting
article was recently published in the New York Times which talked about "abusive"
behavior by doctors and the negative impact of this behavior on health care.
Someone who is prone to "lose their temper" is often referred to in modern American English as having "poor anger management" or "poor anger management skills." A person who commits domestic violence or other criminal acts while in the heat of anger
can be sentenced by a judge in an American court to an anger management course to help them control their anger. John McCain, the Republican candidate for
president in 2008 is widely acknowledged to have trouble controlling his temper,
and David Gergen, a well-known and respected political commentator, described McCain
behavior during one of the presidential debates as "almost an exercise in anger
management."
A shorthand has developed in English for people who tend to be キレやすい which is simply adding the word "rage" to whatever is the triggering environment. Rage was first
used in this manner in the phrase "road rage" in the 1980s. "Road rage" happens
when someone behaves violently toward another driver in traffic, "air rage" happens
when someone is violent or disruptive on an airplane and I recently
read an article about "line rage" or "queue rage" which happens when someone becomes extremely impatient while waiting in line.
Generally rage here does not cover just getting irritated, but its use implies that the person got so angry that the law enforcement may have to become involved.
Another phrase that I have heard recently is "poor impulse control" which also could, in the proper context, correspond to "キレやすい." However, I should note that "poor impulse control" does not necessarily mean that the person is prone to anger, but could also refer to a person who has trouble controlling his behavior. This type of person could engage in gambling, excessive risk taking or other negative activities.
In addition, キレた itself in Japanese, as I understand it, does not necessarily mean that the person is harming another person either physically or emotionally. He could simply be screaming and yelling at no one in particular. Terms that come to mind in such cases are "lashed out," "became enraged," "erupted in fury" or "he is a hothead." Someone described in this manner may or may not become violent. A very common expression used in spoken language is "he lost it" with the "it" referring to "self control" or "composure."
The final term corresponding to キレた that I would like to mention is "fit of rage" as in "she exploded in a fit of rage." This phrase describes generally a
single event of anger as indicated by the word "fit." Now you may want to ask about the use of "fit" in this context. That is a good question because "fit" and its many meanings and uses related
to medicine and health care will be the subject of the next installment of Wordology. See you then! |