Origin of words for eating manners


What is the cultural/religious origin of itadakimasu and gochisosama?




In terms of simple word origins / etymologies, we can explain that pretty
easily based on available resources.

## Origin of _itadakimasu_

`<joke>` This comes from the phrase [板]{ita}[[を]{o}][抱きます]{dakimasu}, and
refers to the custom of hugging ([抱く]{daku}) a board ([板]{ita}) in
appreciation of the table on which the food is laid. `</joke>`

More seriously, _itadakimasu_ or 頂【いただ】きます is the so-called " _-masu_ form" or
"polite form" of the verb [頂く]{itadaku}.

The original meaning, way back over a thousand years ago, referred to placing
something on top of one's head, such as to carry or transport. The idea of "on
the very top of something" is still used in the noun derived from this verb --
_itadaki_ can refer to the peak of a mountain, for example.

Over time, this "put on one's head" expanded to mean "get something from on
high", and then to "get something from a social superior".

Then, from "to humbly receive", the word was used more poetically in reference
to "humbly receiving food", leading to the modern usage just before eating.

As a regular verb, _itadaku_ still means "to humbly receive" or "to humbly get
or have someone else do something", such as 回答【かいとう】を書【か】いていただけますでしょうか (
_kaitō o kaite itadakemasu deshō ka_ , "could I get you to write a response
for me?").

## Origin of _go-chisō-sama_

This term comes from three pieces.

  * _go-_  
This is an honorific prefix. Either _go-_ or _o-_ shows up on the front of
many terms in Japanese as a kind of polite marker.

  * _chisō_  
The core term. We'll get to this in a moment.

  * _-sama_  
This is an honorific suffix. It's the ancestor, and now the hyper-polite
version, of the modern _-san_ suffix used for people's names.

So we have two pieces of politenss, and one core term.

### The core term _chisō_

The Japanese term _chisō_ is spelled in kanji as 馳走, and this literally means
馳 "to rush about" + 走 "to run". The literal sense first appears in the late
1000s. Over time, this took on overtones of "to rush about taking care of
things for someone", and from there, the meaning extended by the early 1600s
to mean "to treat someone to a meal".

At the end of a meal, it became the custom to thank one's host for taking care
of preparing the food by stating that they have "rushed about getting the food
prepared": _go-chisō-sama deshita_ , literally "[you have] honorably been
rushing about". More [at
Kotobank](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%A6%B3%E8%B5%B0-565923#E7.B2.BE.E9.81.B8.E7.89.88.20.E6.97.A5.E6.9C.AC.E5.9B.BD.E8.AA.9E.E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E5.85.B8).

* * *

Please comment if the above has not answered your questions, and I can update
as appropriate.

