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Looking at the individual kanji according to a dictionary: They seem unrelated to what these words using the kanji mean: How did these words end up with these meanings? |
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A summary of the gogen-allguide reference for 大丈夫: 丈 refers to a measure of height; about 3m by the 尺貫法{しゃっかんほう} system (traditional Japanese standard) but less in older Chinese measures. One 丈 referred to the height of a man. 夫 here means 'man', so when these words were imported from China, 丈夫 meant a fully grown man and 大丈夫 was a great/splendid man. From there 大丈夫 started to be used to mean "exceptionally strong", "exceptionally reliable", "exceptionally healthy", and from there the other meanings developed. (大丈夫/丈夫 do not mean the same things in Chinese). |
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I think they seem related. A tall man is a strong/healthy man. A really tall man is someone who is well/alright (i.e. without any problems). |
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