TIL #4 – From the pinta to the cruz
In Japanese, the word ピンキリ（ピンキリ）is used when talking about something that could be either great or bad value. Wine for example.
What's a TIL?
TIL is an acronym for the phrase ‘Today I learned,’ and is often used to share a piece of knowledge or fact that was recently learned.
What does it mean in the context of this blog?
TIL is a series of short articles about a word, a phrase, or something else related to the Japanese language.
Funny/useful words or expressions that I learned which surprised me, and that I would like to share on this blog. It's a way to get myself in the habit of posting more regularly.
Don't expect daily TILs, but I will do my best to write frequently.
TIL the meaning and origin of the word ピンキリ
In Japanese, the word ピンキリ（ピンキリ）is used when talking about something that could be either great or bad value. Wine for example. You have very good and expensive wine, just like you have cheap table wine. Here's an example of how you would use it
一口（ひとくち）にワインと言ってもピンキリだ
Although it's all called wine, there are a myriad of different kinds from the superb to the terrible.
Where it comes from
The word seems to be the contracted form of the expression ピンからキリまで with ピン being the best quality and キリ being the worst. Both of these words originate from Portuguese.
ピン comes from the word Pinta, and was used to denote the number 1 in カルタ or from dice. The original meaning in Portuguese is point as in 1 point.
キリ comes from the word cruz, which means cross (cf キリスト) and is also used to talk about the last card in カルタ (it might be linked to the expression 切り札（きりふだ）to talk about one's ace up the sleeve). The fact that it has the same pronounciation as 切り which can also mean ‘end’ as in 売り切れ also helped its adoption.
And there we have the word ピンキリ. I thought it would be pretty obscure when I learnt about it, but I happened to hear it the very next day. Maybe I wasn't paying attention when I encountered it in the past. I hope you get to come across it too!