[shinnosukeさん]

はじめまして。This is my first post on Hiroba. I want to improve my Japanese and will try to come here often.Can someone help me with the word for chalk? Whenever I say 白墨 (はくぼく), my Japanese friends laugh at me. Why is 白墨 not a good way to say chalk?宜しくお願い致します。進之介

[nolaさん]

I'm not sure, but maybe チョーク is more common?

[shinnosukeさん]

Yes, I've heard of チョーク, but I'm not sure why the Japanese find はくぼくso hilarious. They really hold their tummies and laugh. Please try to casually slip the word into your next conversation with a Japanese acquaintance and report back here with their reaction. 宜しくお願い奉り候。

[SteveCさん]

Maybe 白墨 makes a Japanese think of white ink, maybe they get tickled at the thought of it running down the チョークboard? 

白墨 does seem like a perfect word, though, doesn't it! When I hear チョーク, all I can imagine is "choke"... which doesn't work very well as chalk.

[shinnosukeさん]

Well, chalk dust can cause one to choke.

[SteveCさん]

So true!!

I just had a lesson with Michiko Fujiwara-sensei. She gave me the lowdown on チョーク vs. 白墨. It turns out that 30 or 40 years ago, チョーク was not used in Japanese, but nowadays, it's the preferred word, partly because chalk comes in all sorts of colors. 白墨, as the first Kanji implies, means white chalk only.

なるほど！Thank you, Michiko-sensei!

[shinnosukeさん]

SteveさんThanks for the info. 藤原先生's explanation makes sense. Although I was holding white chalk when I said 白墨 and got laughed at.Hey, I just realized that I can make a play on words with the word for teacher in Japanese. Like this:Fujiwara Sensei puts the sense in sensei.皆さんへ感謝！進之介

[Masahiro Araiさん]

Hi Sinnosuke,Let me say something the word 白墨。 You said whenever you say 白墨　your friend laughed at you. I think it's because nowadays calk is more common word in Japan and 白墨　sound little out of date. People think it's funny to hear the word 白墨　from a young man like you. Another thing the word白墨　I don't think　it imply only white chalk.　At least when I was child I heard the expression such as 「赤い白墨持ってきて」（Please bring me a red chalk)　You know black board is not really black . We say 黒板（こくばん）in Japanese but actually it's green.

[Michiko Nakanoさん]

Shinnosuke-san,  Here is the Black board Art that high school kids paint lots of great painting with CHALK.  That is one of typical Japanese culture.  Enjoy these fantastic paints.

http://kokubanart.nichigaku.co.jp/2018/major/

[shinnosukeさん]

Shinnosuke-san,  Here is the Black board Art that high school kids paint lots of great painting with CHALK.  That is one of typical Japanese culture.  Enjoy these fantastic paints.http://kokubanart.nichigaku.co.jp/2018/major/

藤原先生お世話様です。Thank you for sharing the link. There was some fantastic work on that website as well as a lot of new vocabulary.I hope you have a wonderful weekend.進之介