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生え抜き (haenuki) Japanese meaning: native-born | Kotomora
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He is a Tokyoite born and bred.
Usage patterns 〈 場ば 所しょ 〉 の 生は え 抜ぬ き a person who was born and raised in a particular place
He's a native of Osaka through and through, and speaks the local dialect.
生は え 抜ぬ きの 〈 人ひと 〉 someone who has worked at the same organization since the very start of their career
〈 組そ 織しき 〉 生は え 抜ぬ きの 〈 人ひと 〉 a veteran who rose through the ranks of a specific organization from the very beginning
Kanji 抜 slip out, extract, pull out Related words 生粋 stresses pure, unmixed local origin (生粋の江戸っ子), while 生え抜き can describe either a person's local roots or a lifelong career at one organization.
地元 means 'one's home area/hometown' (a place), whereas 生え抜き describes a person who was born and raised there, so 生え抜き often modifies 地元 (地元生え抜き).
プロパー is casual business jargon for a company's own long-time staff as opposed to temps or mid-career hires, while 生え抜き specifically highlights someone who rose through the ranks from the very start.
Opposites 中途採用 refers to hiring someone mid-career, the direct opposite of a 生え抜き employee who joined the organization from the very beginning.
外様 describes an outsider who joined an organization later and is treated as not fully belonging, in contrast to a 生え抜き who has been there since the start.
Written forms 生は え 抜ぬ き Usage 83%
Standard kanji spelling; high-frequency news term.
はえぬき Usage 17%
Etymology The noun derives from 生え抜く, “to grow up entirely in one place or organization.” It consequently denotes someone native-born or attached to a group from the beginning.
He's a company lifer who has been with this firm since he joined right out of school.
He is known as a career diplomat who has been with the Foreign Ministry since the beginning.
他所者 means someone from elsewhere with no local roots, the opposite of a 生え抜き who was born and raised in the place.