夜食

• 読み: やしょく
• ローマ字: yashoku
• 漢字の分解: 夜 (night) + 食 (food/eat) → nighttime food
• 発音: /ya.sho.ku/

意味

A late-night snack or midnight meal eaten after dinner, often associated with guilt and indulgence.

夜食 is a well-established Japanese word for eating late at night, typically after 10 PM. While not strictly slang, it carries strong cultural connotations — studying students eating cup noodles, workers grabbing ramen after overtime, or the guilty pleasure of raiding the fridge at midnight. It is frequently discussed in diet and lifestyle contexts as something to avoid.

例文

1. 受験勉強してるとどうしても夜食が欲しくなるんだよね。
2. 夜食にカップラーメン食べたら罪悪感がやばい。
3. 太ると分かってるのに夜食がやめられない。

使い方ガイド

場面: daily life, friends, family, health discussions

トーン: conversational, often guilty

正しい言い方

• 夜食に何か食べたいんだけど、何かある？ (I want a late-night snack — got anything?)
• 夜食やめたら3キロ痩せた。 (I lost 3 kg after I stopped eating late at night.)

避ける言い方

• 夜食 itself is neutral enough for any setting — no specific restrictions

よくある間違い

• Confusing 夜食 with 夕食 (yūshoku, dinner) — 夜食 specifically refers to eating late at night, well after the regular dinner hour

起源と歴史

A traditional Japanese compound word from 夜 (night) + 食 (food/meal). Has been used for centuries but gained renewed cultural attention with modern diet consciousness and late-night study/work culture.

文化的背景

時代: Traditional word, culturally prominent in modern diet-conscious Japan

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal

地域メモ: Used across all of Japan. Cup ramen and onigiri are stereotypical 夜食 items.