Talk:Etemon

I think the meaning of "Etekou" has been mistranslated. It is not supposed to refer to a "personified monkey", but is rather a phrase that [i]personifies[/i] the monkey. It is used instead of "saru" because saru (with different kanji) can also be used to mean "to leave and not come back", which is incredibly unlucky for fisherman (similar to how "yon" is used for 4, instead of the "more correct" "shi", which can mean death). The term itself is a pun on "得手" (Forte), which from what I've read is supposed to be a reference to how monkeys have hands.

Some sources:


 * http://www.pref.ibaraki.jp/bukyoku/seikan/kokuko/e-ibaraki-report/0610superstitions.html
 * http://zokugo-dict.com/04e/etekou.htm
 * http://gogen-allguide.com/e/etekou.html