two-timing; seeing two people romantically at the same time
Refers to dating or being romantically involved with two people simultaneously without their knowledge. Often used in the phrase 二股をかける.
He got caught two-timing by his girlfriend.
You'd better stop seeing two people at once.
noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
fork; bifurcation; branch; dichotomy
Physical or abstract splitting into two branches. Can refer to a fork in a road, river, tree branch, or a division into two parts.
If you go straight down this road, it forks.
The point where the river splits into two branches.
fence-sitting; playing both sides; hedging
Metaphorical extension of the fork image: not committing to one side, trying to keep options open, or playing both ends against the middle. Often used in political or business contexts.
He's fence-sitting, agreeing with both opinions.
Fence-sitting before an election is disliked by voters.
二股 means secretly dating two people at once, while 浮気 is cheating on an existing partner with someone else, so the situations overlap but aren't identical.
double-dealer; timeserver; fence-sitter
Standard kanji spelling for all senses.
Alternative kanji for the physical fork/bifurcation sense.
Alternative kanji for the physical fork/bifurcation sense.
Search-only kanji-kana mixed form.
Rarely used kanji form for the physical fork/bifurcation sense.
Compound of 二 (ふた, 'two') and 股 (また, 'crotch' or 'fork'). The original meaning is a physical fork or bifurcation, from which the metaphorical senses of romantic two-timing and fence-sitting developed.