Translation guide
The English word "butchery" can refer to the trade, the shop, or the act of slaughtering animals, and also has figurative meanings of brutal killing or bungling. This guide covers practical ways to express these concepts in Japanese.
Referring to the occupation or skill of cutting and preparing meat for sale.
The formal term for the meat processing/butchery trade. Used in business contexts.
彼は精肉業を営んでいます。
He runs a butchery business.
Meat processing, often used for the industrial side of butchery.
食肉加工の技術を学びました。
I learned the techniques of butchery.
Referring to the physical store where meat is sold.
The most common word for a butcher shop. Casual and widely understood.
駅前に新しい肉屋ができた。
A new butchery opened in front of the station.
A more formal term for a butcher shop, often used on signage.
あの精肉店の肉は新鮮だ。
The meat at that butchery is fresh.
Referring to the physical process of killing and dismembering animals for meat.
Slaughtering of animals, especially livestock. Can sound blunt or technical.
屠殺の現場を見学した。
I observed the butchery process.
Dismantling or cutting up a carcass. Used for both animals and objects.
Slaughter of livestock. Less common, somewhat technical.
Using 'butchery' metaphorically to describe savage, indiscriminate killing of people.
Massacre, slaughter. The standard term for brutal killing of many people.
その戦争では無実の人々の虐殺が行われた。
In that war, butchery of innocent people took place.
Slaughter, carnage. Strong literary or dramatic nuance.
Literally 'blood festival', used figuratively for a bloodbath or massacre. Vivid and somewhat sensational.
Using 'butchery' to mean a very poor, clumsy job, especially in creative or skilled work.
To ruin, spoil, make a mess of. Common and versatile.
彼の翻訳は原作を台無しにしている。
His translation is a butchery of the original.
To mess up completely, make a hash of. Colloquial.
彼は料理をめちゃくちゃにした。
He made a butchery of the cooking.
Making something worse through revision; a bad alteration. Often used for remakes or adaptations.
Avoid directly translating 'butchery' as ブッチャリー (buccharī). It is not a standard Japanese word and may not be understood. Use 肉屋 or 精肉店 instead.
屠殺 is used for animals (livestock), while 虐殺 is used for people (massacre). Using 屠殺 for people would sound dehumanizing and extremely harsh.
鹿の解体には技術がいる。
Butchery of a deer requires skill.
Learn about methods of butchery.
戦場は殺戮の場と化した。
The battlefield turned into a scene of butchery.
抗争は血祭りになった。
The feud turned into a butchery.
その映画のリメイクは改悪だ。
The remake is a butchery of the original film.