婚カツ（Konkatsu) Slang

:maggie-small:  「この際、長男でもいいか…」kono sai, chounan demo iika….

“I can’t be so choosy now so I could compromise and marry an oldest son…“

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Today’s word is 「婚カツ」（or 「婚活」＊）(=Konkatsu).

＊（Some people write with katakana 「カツ」 and some use with kanji 「活」）

It is a very trendy word.

Can you guess what it means?

Remember that in modern Japanese, words tend to be abbreviated. Let’s break this word up and look at each part individually.

♦「婚」：kon means marriage

「結婚」 kekkon marriage 「 婚約」 konyaku engagement

♦「カツ(or 活）*」 is an abbreviation form of 「活動」 (=katsudou)

→　活：katsu/ikiru/ikasu live, actively 動 : dou/ugoku move) which means activities.

So 「婚カツ」(=Konkatsu) means “marriage partner hunting“ or “act of seriously and actively looking for a spouse“.

Ex. 現在、マギー先生は婚カツ中です。 Genzai Maggie sensei wa konkatsu chuu desu.

Maggie-sensei is actively looking for a husband.

(〜中 ：~chu : in middle of some activities.)

Ex. マギーは、婚活に忙しい。Maggie wa konkatsu ni isogashii. Maggie is busy looking for a husband.

What do they actually do for 婚カツ? Some register at marriage service companies. Some go to matchmaking parties. This term became so popular that it was used as the name of a TV drama.

We also hear

:k: 「就カツ」(= shuukatsu) is 「就職活動 」(=shuushoku katsudou)　job hunting

:s: 「離カツ」 (=rikatsu) is from 「離婚活動」 (=rikon katsudou) act of getting divorced.

:mm: 「恋カツ」(=koikatsu) is from 「恋愛活動」 (=ren-ai katsudou) act of looking for a boyfriend/girlfriend.

Maggie is thinking…

「この際、長男でもいいか…」 (=kono sai, chounan demo iika…)

(To be honest I don’t want to marry an oldest son, but) I can’t be so choosy so I should compromise and marry an oldest son.

:i: Note: In Japanese society, women prefer to marry younger sons because it is less responsibility and they don’t have to live with their in-lows or take care of them. Older sons are often expected to look after their parents when they become elderly.

「長男」 (=chounan）means the older son. 「次（or 二）男」(=jinan) is the second son. ( 「長女」choujo is the oldest daughter, 「次（or 二）女」(=jijo) is the second daughter.)　The third one is called 「 三男」 (=sannan) the third son or 「三女」 (=sanjo ) the third daughter.

:z: Useful sentence pattern

この際〜でもいいか… (kono sai 〜demo iika)

When you have no choice, or you are very desperate, you just compromise.

Ex. お金もないからこの際、軽自動車でもいいか…。Okane mo naikara konosai keijidousha demo iika…

Since I don’t have money so I could compromise and buy a small car.

この際、〜でもいいです。(kono sai 〜demo iidesu.)

Ex.もう飛行機一杯なんですか？この際、どんな飛行機会社でもいいです！

Mou hikouki ippai nandesuka? Kono sai, donna hikouki gaisha demo iidesu.

All the airplanes are full already? Now I don’t care about what airline I fly with. (Please find me a ticket!)

マギー先生より Maggie- sensei yori From Maggie sensei

結局、婚カツよりも自分を磨いた方がよさそうね。 Kekkyoku Konkatsu yorimo jibun wo migaita houga yosasoune.

After all, I’d rather spend time improving myself instead of Konkatsu!