Guzumi

    Keywords: Shape, Go term

Guzumi (グズミ) is a Japanese Go term, meaning a bad-looking shape that is good in context. A typical example is a good empty triangle.

Tamsin: I`m guessing a bit here, but I suppose it would be 愚隅 in kanji - meaning "silly corner", which is what an empty triangle is. If this is so, then "guzumi" refers only to the shape, and not to the fact that it can be good in some circumstances.

John F. Japanese etymology doesn't work that way. Characters are often added whimsically to existing native words and become a kind of folk etymology. Sometimes many versions exist, as is the case with shichou (one kanji reading means 'four birds'). But this particular can be booted out of court straightaway as (a) sumi means corner in the sense of an area (a nook) and not a shape (cf. kado), and (b) sumi is a pure noun but the -mi here represents a verbal ending from guzumi, which makes the definition at head slightly inaccurate as well. The use of characters for this is rare but if it happens the usual choice is 愚図む anyway.

See the Guzumi/Discussion page for more on this, but I'll add that another plausible (but still speculative) route would be to trace it back to the old and probably original meaning of kusumu, be plain, with the g- variant adding negative overtones. Or it could be related to guzuguzu, a mimetic word used of sluggish movement.

Tamsin: Thanks John! I was hoping you would set me straight on this one, as I have been wondering about it for a while.


This is a copy of the living page "Guzumi" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2011 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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