What went wrong when I asked for a 衡器{こうき}?


I was in Bikku Camera earlier today, and I wanted to buy a small kitchen scale
for measuring small amounts of food.

I looked up the word "scale" in the dictionary, and it said
[`衡器{こうき}`](http://www.jisho.org/words?jap=&eng=scale&dict=edict). So I found
a shop assistant and asked her for a `食{た}べ物{もの}を量{はか}る用{よう}の衡器{こうき}`. _(I'm
not totally confident about my grammar there, so correct me if I'm off.
However, I don't think it changes the main point of this question.)_

She looked at me quizzically, so I asked again, and this time I said
`食{た}べ物{もの}を量{はか}る用{よう}のスケール`. This time she understood perfectly, and took me
directly to where the scales were.

I walked away from that interaction a little baffled. I can see how some words
are more commonly understood in katakana
[`外来語{がいらいご}`](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gairaigo). For example, how
`写真機{しゃしんき}` got replaced by `カメラ`, being that it was a concept imported from
the west and the English word came with it.

But surely Japan had scales since forever, and there would be a native word.
Is it not `衡器{こうき}`? I didn't find any viable alternatives in the dictionary.

In any case, I'm always a little confused when I have to resort to katakana
English to be understood. I feel like I'm cheating somehow. And I'm always
surprised when it works.

How, and why, is it that the shop assistant understood `スケール` better than
`衡器{こうき}`?




I have never **heard** of the word `衡器`, although if **written** in kanji, I
can imagine what it is. It is a rare word if it ever exist. Maybe you are
using some strange/old/too formal dictionary. The most normal word for this
situation is `はかり`, whose kanji writings is usually `秤`, `量り`, or `計り`. `スケール`
is not as usual, but at least it is much more recognizable than `衡器`.

One general suggestion to you is that, occasionally, but not always, a word
made of a few kanjis and is pronounced solely by their on-yomi is somewhat
artificially created on the spot, and is used in writing, but not in spoken
language. When kanjis are read in on-yomi, there are often so many homonyms,
and is hard to identify which kanji is meant. So they are not practical for
spoken language.




I have never **heard** of the word `衡器`, although if **written** in kanji, I
can imagine what it is. It is a rare word if it ever exist. Maybe you are
using some strange/old/too formal dictionary. The most normal word for this
situation is `はかり`, whose kanji writings is usually `秤`, `量り`, or `計り`. `スケール`
is not as usual, but at least it is much more recognizable than `衡器`.

One general suggestion to you is that, occasionally, but not always, a word
made of a few kanjis and is pronounced solely by their on-yomi is somewhat
artificially created on the spot, and is used in writing, but not in spoken
language. When kanjis are read in on-yomi, there are often so many homonyms,
and is hard to identify which kanji is meant. So they are not practical for
spoken language.

