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Let’s start with a quick quiz. We’ve seen that 味 (MI, aji) means “flavor,” among other things. Given that, what do you think this compound means?
一味 one + flavor
a. the best possible flavor
b. unique or peculiar flavor
c. gang, clan
d. monomaniacal
To block the answer from view while you think about it, I’ll share something cool I saw in LA recently:
The orange thing in the car is the setting sun! You may remember how I said awhile back that accepting my new age was as difficult as looking at the sun? I saw this sunset during an endless traffic jam on my birthday. So I guess I managed to look straight at the sun after all!
OK, give up on the quiz? There are actually two answers: b (unique or peculiar flavor) and c (gang, clan). That is, with the yomi of hito-aji, 一味 can mean this:
一味 (hito-aji: unique or peculiar flavor) one + flavor
The lone sample sentence in Breen suggests that this compound can have a metaphorical meaning, referring to that “special something” that makes someone stand out from the crowd:
彼女は他の人と一味違う。
Kanojo wa hoko no hito to hito-aji chigau.
She has something different.
So far, so positive. That’s no longer true when we consider the other meaning (gang, clan):
一味 (ichimi: clan, partisans, conspirators, gang, crew)
one + companion
Notice how the yomi changes from hito-aji to ichimi. The mood also changes—from sunny to shady, as this sample sentence shows:
「おい、黙れ。口数が多いぞ」とその一味のなかで一番若いのが言った。
“Oi, damare. Kuchikazu ga ōi zo” to sono ichimi no naka de ichiban wakai no ga itta.
“Hey, shut up! You talk too much,” said the youngest of the gangsters.
In this second version of 一味 (that is, as ichimi: clan, gang), 味 means “companion.” This compound evolved from the idea that all members of a group share a worldview—the same taste in life (or in crime), one might say.
Another Word in Which 味 Means “Companion”
One dictionary notes that 一味 (ichimi: clan, gang) originally took a different form:
一身 one + body
But now, of course, the breakdown is one + companion = gang, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I would think that if there truly were a gang, the number of companions would be much higher than one. Perhaps each gang member counts as “one companion,” and the group consists of several such companion “units.”
Anyway, here’s a way to make sure you’re conveying something about the whole gang:
一味徒党 (ichimi totō: whole party to a plot, whole gang, fellow conspirators)
gang (1st 2 chars.) + conspirators (last 2 chars.)
The second compound, 徒党, breaks down as companions + political party, faction. The first of these kanji appears in 生徒 (seito: student, student + student), and 党 shows up in a near homonym, 政党 (seitō: political party, politics + political party).
Politicians and students and gang members, oh my! I’m starting to feel uneasy! If you are, too, it’s a great time to skip out and try the Verbal Logic Quiz.
