L-shaped house; house with attached stable
Traditional rural architecture, often found in regions like Iwate; the L-shape accommodates a stable or storage area.
Old L-shaped houses still remain in Iwate Prefecture.
Slang or colloquial term for a pawnshop, derived from the image of a bent or curved shop front; not the standard word (質屋 is standard).
I pawned my watch at that pawnshop.
stale bull; weak bull
Stock market jargon for a bullish investor who has held a position too long and lost momentum; rare outside financial contexts.
In a magariya, the stable and the main house are connected at a right angle.
In the market, you need to be careful not to become a stale bull.
Standard kanji spelling for the L-shaped house sense; also used for pawnshop.
Variant with 曲り and 家 for the L-shaped house sense.
Alternate spelling using 家 for the L-shaped house sense.
Search-only kanji form; may be encountered in older texts.
Variant with 曲り instead of 曲がり.
From 曲がり (bent, curved) + 屋 (house, shop). The L-shaped house sense is literal; the pawnshop sense likely derives from the curved shape of traditional shop fronts or a play on the 'bent' nature of the business. The stock market sense is a metaphorical extension of 'bent' or 'stale'.