「マンネリ」をオージーに英語で説明してみよう !

エピソード
同僚が『最近、日常がマンネリ化してきた気がする』と言っていたけれど、これってどういう意味？

Aussie: マンネリ(man-neri)? I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before.

You: I don’t blame you – it’s a pretty odd word. It actually originally came from the English word “mannerism”.

Aussie: Alright. But then… How is his daily life becoming… Mannered??

You: Well, the meaning of it changed a bit when it was imported into the Japanese language. Originally, the meaning of mannerism was ‘to have a habitual gesture or behaviour’ (as with our current word usage), but this transposed to ‘being stuck in a habitual cycle’ or ‘being stuck in a repetitive routine’. So, your co-worker was saying that he is feeling that his daily life has become the same every day.

Aussie: Ah, I see. So, you’re essentially ‘stuck in a rut’.

You: That’d be the perfect translation for it. マンネリ is most commonly used by people who want to describe their jobs as having become humdrum, or by people who want to complain that their long-term relationship has gone stale or become love-less.

Aussie: I now understand the connections to the original meaning of the word, in that the repetitive nature of anything would eventually lead to boredom.

You: Yes. There’s also another word which is quite similar to マンネリ, and that is ワンパターン(wan patān). This word is a 和製英語(wasei eigo) [“Japanese-made English word”], which combines the words ‘one’ and ‘pattern’. As the sourced words imply, ワンパターン refers to something that is unchanging and cliché – usually with a negative connotation too, if I might add.

Aussie: I see, I see. Better make sure I remember these two separately now that you’ve taught me both at the same time, so I don’t accidentally say ワンネリ or マンパターン!

You: Hahaha!

説明する時のポイント

「マンネリ」の語源は、元々イタリア語の“maniera”で「芸術家の手法」という意味で使われていた言葉で、偉大な芸術家の手法を変化させることなく伝えることが大切だという教えが、いつしか「文学や芸術の表現手段が型にはまっている、新鮮味がない」を意味する英語の“mannerism”という言葉になった、と説明してあげよう。この英語の言葉を「マンネリズム」というカタカナ語にし、更にそれを簡略化した形が「マンネリ」だと付け加えておこう。現在では文学や芸術の分野だけではなく、一般に「新鮮味や独創性がない」という意味で使われており「マンネリ化」「マンネリ化する／している」という形でもよく使われ、仕事や恋愛関係に「飽きる／退屈する」という気持ちを表す時に使われる、と補足しておきたい。