What does “Itatakimas” actually mean?


What does “Itatakimas” actually mean?

Do Japanese use it only before starting to eat or it means more than that? I
was watching an anime and someone used that word when he was leaving the
house, and I wondered if they use it before starting anything.




The first word you're thinking of ("before starting to eat") is
[頂きます]{itadakimasu}. This is the polite form (ending in _-masu_ ) of the plain
verb [頂く]{itadaku}.

`<joke>` In turn, _itadaku_ is a compound of [板]{ita} ("board, plank") and
[抱く]{daku} ("to hold in one's arms, to hug"), with a compound meaning of "to
hug a board". `</joke>`

More seriously, _itadaku_ is a humble word meaning "to receive". It is used in
many contexts, such as:

  * At the start of a meal, used idiomatically to mean "I humbly receive this food", vaguely similar to how some people say grace before eating.
  * In a literal sense, to indicate that you have received something from someone else.
  * After another verb in the _-te_ or conjunctive form, indicating that someone else is doing that verb for you.

The second term you're thinking of ("when ... leaving the house") is
[行って]{itte}[来ます]{kimasu}. This is two verbs: _itte_ is the _-te_ or
conjunctive form of the verb _iku_ (polite form _ikimasu_ , "to go") and
_kimasu_ is the polite form of the verb _kuru_ ("to come"). _Itte kimasu_
literally means "I'm going and coming back." Folks use it not just when
leaving the house, but also when leaving some other place and coming back
soon, for example, when leaving one's job site for a little bit to go to lunch
or run an errand.




The first word you're thinking of ("before starting to eat") is
[頂きます]{itadakimasu}. This is the polite form (ending in _-masu_ ) of the plain
verb [頂く]{itadaku}.

`<joke>` In turn, _itadaku_ is a compound of [板]{ita} ("board, plank") and
[抱く]{daku} ("to hold in one's arms, to hug"), with a compound meaning of "to
hug a board". `</joke>`

More seriously, _itadaku_ is a humble word meaning "to receive". It is used in
many contexts, such as:

  * At the start of a meal, used idiomatically to mean "I humbly receive this food", vaguely similar to how some people say grace before eating.
  * In a literal sense, to indicate that you have received something from someone else.
  * After another verb in the _-te_ or conjunctive form, indicating that someone else is doing that verb for you.

The second term you're thinking of ("when ... leaving the house") is
[行って]{itte}[来ます]{kimasu}. This is two verbs: _itte_ is the _-te_ or
conjunctive form of the verb _iku_ (polite form _ikimasu_ , "to go") and
_kimasu_ is the polite form of the verb _kuru_ ("to come"). _Itte kimasu_
literally means "I'm going and coming back." Folks use it not just when
leaving the house, but also when leaving some other place and coming back
soon, for example, when leaving one's job site for a little bit to go to lunch
or run an errand.

