chinchin ちんちん

In Japanese, chinchin ちんちん means a dozen different things: it's a childish way to say "penis." it can refer to a kind of dog trick; or to hopping on one leg; to a sound bells and microwave ovens make; to a different sound that kettles and boiling water make; it can mean jealousy; or that a couple has a good relationship; it's a term for the fry (young fish) of a black porgy; in soccer it means to win one-sidedly; and it can refer to a numbing feeling from cold.

It's also spelled chinchin チンチン, and also romanized tintin.

Anime: Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~Tensai-Tachi no Ren'ai Zunousen~ かぐや様は告らせたい～天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦～ (Episode 7)

• "Penis"
• Dog Trick
• Onomatopoeia
• Jealousy
• ちんちんかもかも

"Penis"

The word chinchin ちんちん is a way to say "penis" in Japanese, but it's children's language. It's like "wiener," or "pee pee," "wee wee" in English.

The technical term for "penis" in Japanese would be inkei 陰茎.

Manga: Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~Tensai-Tachi no Ren'ai Zunousen~ かぐや様は告らせたい～天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦～ (Chapter 27)

Manga: I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying, Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken 旦那が何を言っているかわからない件 (Chapter 4)

• Context: no context in the world will make this make any sense.
• Kaoru-dono!!
  カオル殿！！
  (character name.)
• furo wa waiteimasuka?
  風呂は沸いていますか？
  Is the bath warmed up?
• sessha hisashiburi ni anija to hairimasu!!
  拙者久しぶりに兄者と入ります！！
  I'll, for the first time in a long time, enter with my brother!!
  • sessha 拙者
    I. Me. (first person pronoun used by some otaku.)
• kigae ga nai kara anija no wo karimasu!!
  着替えがないから兄者のを借ります！！
  [I] don't have a change of clothes so [I'll] borrow brother's!!
• anija chinchin misete, chinchin!!
  兄者ちんちん見せて　ちんちん！！
  Brother, show me [your] wiener, [your] wiener!!

Like some other terms for body parts in Japanese, this chinchin can get the polite o- お～ prefix attached to it, becoming ochinchin おちんちん.

This only applies to the "penis" meaning of chinchin because it's a body part. The other meanings of chinchin aren't shared with ochinchin. For example: the chinchin can refer to a kind of dog trick, but ochinchin can not.

Dog Trick

The word chinchin ちんちん can also refer to a certain "dog trick," inu no gei 犬の芸, in which the dog puts its two front paws up, and appears stand up. Actually, it's often more like the dog is sitting with its two hind paws on the floor.

Anime: Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~Tensai-Tachi no Ren'ai Zunousen~ かぐや様は告らせたい～天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦～ (Episode 7)

You might think that these two chinchin are somehow related, that the dog trick comes from the fight you might see the dog's chinchin while they're doing the chinchin, or something like that, but that's not the case.

This chinchin comes from chinza 鎮座, which normally means "enshrinement (of a divine spirit)." It's spelled with shizumaru 鎮まる, "to quiet down," and suwaru 座る, "to sit." A second meaning of this word is for something heavy to occupy a space, or rather, for something heavy to sit down, which's what's happening in the case of the dog. (he's sitting down on his hind paws.)^{[鎮座 - 三省堂 大辞林 via weblio.jp, accessed 2019-04-30.]}

Manga: Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~Tensai-Tachi no Ren'ai Zunousen~ かぐや様は告らせたい～天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦～ (Chapter 27)

• wakattemasu yo
  わかったますよ
  [I] get it, [okay?]
• inu no gei desu yo ne
  犬の芸ですよね
  [It's] the dog trick, [isn't it?]
• chinza wo gogen
  to suru tokoro no
  chinchin desu yo ne
  鎮座を語源とする所のちんちんですよね
  [It's] the "chinchin" [whose] origin is "chinza."
• chanto wakattemasu yo!
  ちゃんとわかってますよ！
  [I] get it [perfectly]!

Onomatopoeia

The word chinchin チンチン is also an onomatopoeia used in two different cases.

First, it's the sound of a bell ringing when it's hit by something. From this, you get derived terms like:

• chin suru チンする
  To make "chin."
  • To microwave something. Because a "microwave," denshi renji 電子レンジ, makes a light beep sound when it finishes microwaving something.
• chinchin poteto チンチンポテト
  "Chinchin" potato.
  • Refers to a:
  • furaido poteto フライドポテト
    "Fried potato." French fries. Chips.
  • That you make using a microwave.

A second chinchin チンチン onomatopoeia refers to the whistling sound that water makes when it's very hot inside of a kettle. It's also sort of a mimetic word, since it can refer to any liquid that's boiling hot, regardless of whether it's making a chinchin sound or not.

Jealousy

The word chinchin ちんちん can also mean "jealousy." This comes actually comes from the boiling water sound meaning. You know how in cartoons when a character is angry their face becomes red like a tomato and then vapor starts coming out from their ears and stuff? It's the same thing, but jealousy instead of anger.

ちんちんかもかも

The term chinchin-kamokamo ちんちんかもかも refers to a couple that's in extremely good terms. It comes from the jealousy meaning of chinchin, in the sense that they're in such good terms that it makes you feel jealous for their relationship.

It's also abbreviated chichin-kamo ちんちんかも, and even just chinchin ちんちん. So you have a chinchin that comes from a chinchin that comes from another chinchin.