TOKKU-RI とっくり
Meanings
1. A TOKKURI: a narrow-necked ceramic, metal, or glass flask, especially one used for serving sake.
2. An older adverbial use meaning carefully, thoroughly, or at length.
Examples
1. In winter, hot sake served from a tokkuri is delicious.
Dogmatic Opinion
I almost never hear sense 2 today. Modern Japanese is more likely to use TOKUTO, as in TOKUTO GORAN ARE—roughly, “Take a good, careful look.”
When I hear TOKKURI, I think first of the vessel used to pour sake.
Older people may also call a turtleneck sweater a TOKKURI, presumably because the high narrow neck resembles the neck of the flask.
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
For the vessel, sake flask is the clearest translation; sake bottle is also understandable. The older adverbial sense can be carefully, thoroughly, or at length. For modern learners, the flask meaning is by far the most useful one to recognize.
