助長する

• 読み: じょちょうする
• ローマ字: jochousuru
• 漢字の分解: 助 (jo) — help, assist; 長 (chou) — long, grow, leader
• 発音: /dʑo.tɕoː.sɯ.ɾɯ/

意味

To encourage; to promote; to foster — often with a negative connotation of making something worse.

A する verb that originally meant simply to help something grow, but in modern usage it predominantly carries a negative nuance — fostering or aggravating an undesirable situation. Similar to 'fuel' or 'exacerbate' in English. Commonly seen in news and formal writing about social problems.

例文

1. その政策は格差を助長するだけだと批判された。
2. SNSの匿名性がいじめを助長している。
3. 過度な競争が不正行為を助長しかねない。

使い方ガイド

場面: news, social commentary, academic writing

トーン: critical

起源と歴史

From a Chinese parable about a farmer who pulled his rice seedlings upward to help them grow faster, only to kill them. 助 (jo, help) + 長 (chou, grow). The original story warns against harmful 'help.'

文化的背景

時代: Classical

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Educated