This site will be taken down March 31st, 2026.

This was not an easy decision to make. For the last couple years, I have been struggling to find motivation for this site and to keep up with basic maintenance and security updates. With the rise of AI and more sophisticated tools, the usefulness of sites like this is questionable and traffic has nose-dived. I just don't have it in me to keep doing this. Thank you all for 10 years of support!

Zach

Word

すっぽん、スッポン
Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis); soft-shelled turtle (Trionychidae)
Word

月と鼈

月とすっぽん
exp
つきとすっぽん
like chalk and cheese (superficially similar, but completely different) (the moon and a turtle shell are both round, but they are otherwise completely different); like day and night; like the difference between heaven and hell
Word

鼈甲

べっ甲
べっこう
tortoiseshell (of the hawksbill turtle); bekko; (in Chinese medicine) tortoiseshell (esp. of the Chinese soft-shelled turtle)
Word

鼈甲色

べっこういろ
amber (colour, color)
Word

べっこう飴

鼈甲飴
べっこうあめ
hard candy; candy suckers molded on a griddle; tortoise-shell candy
Word

田鼈

水爬虫
たがめ、タガメ
Lethocerus deyrollei (species of giant water bug)
Word

膝皿貝

火皿貝、石鼈、爺が背
ひざらがい、じいがせ、ヒザラガイ
chiton (any marine mollusk of the class Polyplacophora); sea cradle; Japanese chiton (Acanthopleura japonica)
Word

鼈甲細工

べっこうざいく
article of tortoise shell; tortoiseshell work
Word

鼈甲蜂

べっこうばち
spider wasp; pompilid
Word

鼈茸

すっぽんたけ、スッポンタケ
common stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus)