粗あらごなし

あ

ら

ご

な

し

Meanings

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', transitive verb

crushing up; grinding; mashing

Refers to physically breaking something down into smaller pieces, often as a preliminary step in cooking or processing.

じゃがいもを粗あらごなししてからスープに入いれる。
I roughly mash the potatoes before adding them to the soup.

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', transitive verb

rough preparation; spadework

; preliminary work

Used figuratively for doing the initial, often messy groundwork before refining something, such as in planning or creative work.

企き画かくの粗あらごなしはもう終おわったので、あとは細さい部ぶを詰つめるだけだ。
The rough preparation for the project is done, so now we just need to work out the details.

Written forms

粗あらごなし
Standard kanji spelling; 粗 suggests coarseness or roughness.
荒あらごなし
Variant spelling using 荒, which also conveys roughness or wildness; less common than 粗ごなし.

Kanji

粗coarse, rough, rugged
荒laid waste, rough, rude

Similar words

下したごしらえ
下ごしらえ is a more common word for preliminary preparation, especially in cooking, while 粗ごなし emphasizes the rough, crushing aspect of the work.

Etymology

Compound of 粗 (あら, 'rough, coarse') and ごなし, the nominalized form of こなす (to crush, to break into small pieces). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word likely originated in contexts of physical grinding or mashing and later extended to figurative use.