I came across an interesting word in one of my JLPT prep books today.  It’s 蛇口 (じゃぐし　jaguchi).  The first character 「蛇」 can be read ja or hebi and means snake.  The second character 「口」 is read kuchi or kou and means mouth.   So 蛇口 is snake mouth, right?  Not quite.   What does this word actually mean?  It means faucet, tap or spigot.

To say “turn on the (sink) faucet”, you use the verb ひねる (hineru), which means to twist.  蛇口をひねる。 Turn on the faucet.  But for God’s sake be careful!

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