赤紙

Japanese

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Compound of 赤 (aka, “red”) +‎ 紙 (kami, “paper”).^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

First attested in any idiomatic sense from 1797.^[1]

赤(あか)紙(がみ) • (akagami)

[from 1797] (historical) red paper used as a charm or ward against pox (usually smallpox, also the great pox or syphilis), and pasted on the frame of oil lamps or on 仁王 (Niō, “Nio”) statues
[from 1794] a slip of red paper attached to a letter or other document to indicate urgency
[from 1904] alternative name for 赤新聞 (aka shinbun, “scandal rag, gutter press, yellow journalism”)
[from 1943] (informal) draft card (from the color of the paper stock used for these)
[from ???] (informal) a label or sticker indicating that something is under seizure or garnishment
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see 赤,‎ 紙. ("red paper")

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 “赤紙”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
^ “赤紙”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN