sweet potato digging; potato digging outing
Refers to the activity of digging up sweet potatoes, often as a school or family outing in autumn. The word itself is neutral, but the activity is strongly associated with children's events.
We dug up a lot at the kindergarten's sweet potato digging field trip.
Derogatory term for a person from the countryside, implying unsophistication. The connection to potato digging is metaphorical: someone who digs potatoes is seen as rustic. This usage is dated and may be offensive.
In autumn, farms where you can experience sweet potato digging are popular.
He was mocked as a country bumpkin who came to the city.
uneducated monk; ignorant monk
Standard kanji spelling for the activity of digging sweet potatoes.
Mixed kana spelling; less common but still used.
Variant with 堀 instead of 掘; mainly for search.
Mixed kana spelling; common in informal or child-oriented contexts.
Compound of 芋 (imo, 'potato') and 掘り (hori, 'digging', noun form of 掘る). The derogatory sense derives from the stereotype of rural people digging potatoes.