よしこ：田中君にプロポーズしたそうね。
かずこ：それ話があべこべですよ。私がプロポーズされたのよ。
Abekobe
Yoshiko: Tanaka-kun ni puropoozu shita soo ne.
Kazuko: Sore hanashi ga abekobe desu yo. Watashi ga puropoozu sareta no yo.
Yoshiko: I hear you proposed to Mr. Tanaka.
Kazuko: No, no, it was the other way around. I was the one who was proposed to.
* * *
Abekobe refers to when some order, position, or relation is reversed.
Rumors are frightening-things can get blown out of proportion and facts completely reversed. Mr. Tanaka, for example, proposed to Kazuko last week.
When "the rumor" finally reached Kazuko, however, she was the one who had done the proposing! No matter how much women are given priority in society, when it comes to proposing, men are still expected to take the lead and women who turn the tables and themselves propose are certain to get hurt.
Kazuko exclaimed angrily, "Sonna abekobe no hanashi ga tsutawatteiru no" ("You mean to say the facts are being passed around backwards").
Yoshiko: "Demo minna abekobe nan'te omowanai de shinjiteiru wa yo" ("But no one thinks they're backwards. Everyone believes the rumor").
Kazuko: "Well then, you must just tell everyone that ano uwasa wa abekobe datta" ("the rumor is all wrong - the facts are the other way around"). Who will people choose to believe the next time gossiping turns some facts topsy-turvy (abekobe no uwasa)?
When we hear the word abekobe what sorts of images immediately come to mind?-a woman who works outside the home while her husband does the housework? Though we may see such couples in the 21st century, in our present 20th century this sort of situation means fufu no yakuwari wa abekobe (a husband and wife's roles have been reversed).
A friend recently presented me with an extremely abstract painting and since wall space was limited I chose to hang it vertically. It can appear to be either
deserted city buildings or a man and a woman standing and gazing at each other depending upon how one looks at it. It also fit in nicely with the rest of the room and so I liked it. When this friend visited my house, however, she said, "Maa sono e abekobe yo" ("Mm, I think that picture is hanging the wrong way"). (In other words, "It's upside down.") When I replied, "But I like it this way. Abekobe demo yoi deshoo (Hanging it upside down is also OK, isn't it?")
she said nothing. Thinking there was nothing else to do, I went ahead and turned the painting the opposite way right in front of her. The city buildings, the man and woman, they all suddenly disappeared. Everything became lines and in a soft voice I said "Abekobe no hoo ga honto wa suki da kedo..." ("But I did actually like it the other way around..."). Why the soft voice you ask? The friend was also the artist!
And so it seems that when things like rumors,
gender roles, and paintings are abekobe they can actually be quite interesting. What sorts of things around you could do with being turned inside out and upside down?