"Brett Robson" <jet_boy@deja.com> wrote...
> On Wed, 18 Jun 2003 17:44:20 GMT, "Daihard"  ...
> >
> >It's "back shan."  The word "shan" came from the German "schoen" ('oe' is
> >really an 'o' with umlaut), which means "beautiful." It's actually a
fairly
> >old term.  I'm not sure they use it anymore.
>
> Quick survey around the young people in the office confirms it's not
common
> these days. None of them knew it but think it is an excellent word. We may
have
> inadvertently started a revival.

I wouldn't be surprised that the young Japanese don't know or use the term
anymore.  It was fading away even when I was young.  The term isn't dead
yet, though.  A google search on "back shan" (in Katakana) got quite a few
hits. :-)

Dai