冷奴

冷奴

1. hiyayakko (Japanese dish)

• 冷や奴

Compound of 冷や (hiya, “cold”, combining form used in compounds) +‎ 奴 (yakko, “square block of tofu”).

奴 (yakko) originally referred to the lowest-ranking slaves in a household, and in later years, the term referred to male servants of a samurai.[1] The yakko in a procession would wear 半纏 (hanten, “short overcoat”) with a specific 紋 (mon, “crest”) of a square shape with the corners pointing vertically and horizontally. The term then came to be used as slang for the blocky shape, from the resemblance to the crest, giving rise to the term 奴豆腐 (yakkodōfu, “tofu cut into blocks and served”).[2][3] Yakko on its own was later used to mean this kind of tofu, leading to the terms 冷奴 (hiyayakko, “cold tofu block”) and 湯奴 (yuyakko, “hot tofu block”).

• (Tokyo) ひやや​っこ [hìyáyáꜜkkò] (Nakadaka – [3])[2][4][5]
• IPA^(key): [çija̠ja̠k̚ko̞]

冷(ひや)奴(やっこ) • (hiyayakko) 

1. hiyayakko (a Japanese dish made with chilled tofu and toppings)

The literal interpretation of the characters as “cool guy” has led to this word being used on T-shirts (and so on) for stylistic and humorous effects.

• 冷(ひや)豆(どう)腐(ふ) (hiyadōfu)
• 奴(やっこ)豆(どう)腐(ふ) (yakkodōfu)
• 奴(やっこ) (yakko)

• 湯(ゆ)奴(やっこ) (yuyakko): hot tofu
• 湯(ゆ)豆(どう)腐(ふ) (yudōfu): hot tofu