Today’s Word: classify

April 14, 2017 =========

☆  classify  分類する

============================

To classify things means that you divide them into groups or types of things with similar characteristics. Other words with a similar meaning are: categorize, arrange, rank, and sort. You could also use the word pigeon-hole. Have you ever heard of this word?

When you pigeon-hole someone, it means that you classify them into a certain category without considering their other characteristics.  For example, you might see a non-Japanese person in Tokyo and pigeon-hole them by thinking that they do not speak or understand Japanese. Similarly, native English speakers might not give the job to a Japanese person, because they have pigeon-holed them into the group of non-English speakers. As you can see, this kind of classifying and pigeon-holing can be a kind of discrimination if we’re not careful!

Bye,

Chris