カブンス

カブンスって、何？

Today I happened to hear some Japanese expression (perhaps a regional dialect word?) for the first time in ages: it’s「カブンス」. I was a bit surprised to hear kids saying the word. It’s been quite a time since I heard it last. Can you guess what it means? Nope?

OK, I’ll give you some clues:
The situation: A kid in the neighborhood said this word several times to some other kid.
Usually, children use it.
It’s not a good word—it’s a teasing word, used when fooling a friend—so it’s not recommended.
It refers to other people’s physical appearance.

Before answering, let me tell you an old anecdote from my elementary school days.
One day in an arithmetic class, the teacher introduced a new concept: ‘improper fraction’「仮分数」. Yes.「分子が分母より大きい分数」. When the teacher explained the word’s meaning, I burst into big laughter (and got into trouble!)

Do you know why? Yes.「カブンス」I used to hear as a child comes from「カブンスウ（仮分数）」(LOL!)

And you should by now know what「カブンス」as a banter means. Yes, it means ‘somebody with an unproportionally huge head’—But be careful: NEVER utter it to others!

Please be aware that my laughter mentioned was not about ‘people’s appearance,’ but about ‘the resonance the etymology takes on.’