従順 (jūjun: obedience, docility, submissiveness) to obey + to obey
Breen considers 従順 an alternate way of writing 柔順. Nevertheless, the initial characters have different meanings.
According to Henshall, 従 (JŪ, shitaga(u): to follow (instructions), obey, submit to, comply) evolved from a shape representing two people as they moved along a road together, one following the other. “Follow” then came to mean “comply.”
Now, let’s make a rapid leap from ancient Chinese etymology to 21st-century Japanese pop culture! I’m a big fan of the Japanese TV show Homemaker, which airs every Saturday night where I live. I feel strangely insatiable when it comes to finding out about this show and its stars. I don’t even know why I’m so interested; I just am. Most of my Japanese friends have never heard of the show (which came out in 2004 and lasted only 30 episodes). That just adds to its mystique for me!
Anyway, I stumbled onto a blog that one of the stars now writes. I had trouble making sense of it, but a Japanese friend walked me through the 2008/07/18 entry. (You’ll have to scroll down to see it; I can’t seem to link straight to that part.) And I was thrilled to see 順 and 従 appearing in the same phrase! Moreover, the 順 word, 順序, appeared at the end of my last blog. Actually, it makes sense that 順序 (junjo: order, order + order) and 従 (shitaga(u): to follow (instructions)) would show up in the same phrase; 順序に従う means “to follow an order.”
The text in the actor’s blog is a bit vulgar; it’s about toilet experiences. To comply (順!) with JPod orders to keep things G-rated, I’ll change the vulgar part of his sentence from “@&%*” to “drink milk.”
「ミルク飲んで寝よ」って自分で言ったところで、実際にその順序に従って、ミルク飲んでから寝たことないじゃん。
“Miruku nonde neyo” tte jibun de itta tokoro de, jissai ni sono junjo ni shitagatte, miruku nonde kara neta koto nai jan.
Even when you tell yourself, “I’ll drink milk and sleep!”, you’ve never drunk milk and then gone to bed, actually following this order.飲 (no(mu): to drink)
寝 (ne(ru): to go to sleep)
自分 (jibun: oneself) self + part
言 (i(u): to say)
実際に (jissai ni: actually)
reality + occasion, time
順序 (junjo: order, sequence, procedure)
order + order
従 (shitaga(u): to follow (instructions), obey, submit to, comply)
