軽かる口くち噺ばなし

か

る

く

ち

ば

な

し

Meanings

noun

humorous story with a punch line

archaic

Archaic term for a light, witty anecdote or joke with a clear punch line, akin to a rakugo-style short story. Not used in modern everyday speech.

江え戸ど時じ代だいには、軽かる口くち噺ばなしが庶しょ民みんの娯ご楽らくとして親したしまれた。
In the Edo period, humorous stories with punch lines were enjoyed as popular entertainment.
彼かれは寄席よせで軽かる口くち噺ばなしを披ひ露ろうした。
He performed a humorous story with a punch line at the vaudeville theater.

Kanji

軽lightly, trifling, unimportant
口mouth
噺talk, (kokuji)
咄exclamation of surprise, cry out (in anger), scold
話tale, talk

Related words

落らく語ご
落語 is the modern term for traditional comic storytelling, while 軽口噺 is an archaic predecessor or variant focusing on light, witty anecdotes with a punch line.
小こ噺ばなし
小噺 is a short, often humorous anecdote, similar in spirit but more general and still used today, whereas 軽口噺 is specifically archaic and tied to Edo-period entertainment.

Written forms

軽かる口くち噺ばなし
Standard kanji spelling for this archaic term.
軽かる口くち咄ばなし
Variant kanji spelling; 咄 is a less common character for 'story'.
軽かる口くち話ばなし
Variant kanji spelling using the more common 話 for 'story', but this combination is not standard.

Etymology

Compound of 軽口 (karukuchi, 'light talk, banter') and 噺 (hanashi, 'story'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it refers to a genre of humorous storytelling popular in the Edo period.