1.
blackboard eraser; chalkboard eraser
A felt-padded tool used to wipe chalk from a blackboard. A standard item in Japanese classrooms.
黒板消しで消してください。
Please erase it with the blackboard eraser.
黒板消しが汚れていて綺麗に消せない。
The eraser is dirty and I can't erase the board cleanly.
日直の仕事は黒板消しを叩いてチョークの粉を落とすことだった。
The daily duty student's job was to clap the blackboard erasers together to knock out the chalk dust.
Compound of 黒板 (blackboard) + 消し (eraser, from 消す 'to erase'). A familiar item in Japanese schools where chalkboards are still widely used.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 黒板消しで消す: to erase with a blackboard eraser
- 黒板消しを叩く: to clap erasers (to clean them)
- 黒板消しクリーナー: eraser cleaning machine
CULTURAL NOTE:
In Japanese schools, students take turns as 日直 (daily duty student), and one common task is cleaning the blackboard erasers by clapping them together outdoors. This is a widely shared memory of school life. As a prank, students sometimes balance a 黒板消し on top of a partially open door so it falls on whoever enters.
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 消しゴム: rubber eraser (for pencil) — for paper, not blackboards
- 黒板: blackboard — the board itself
- ホワイトボードマーカー消し: whiteboard eraser — for whiteboards, not chalkboards