Honorific speech in Japanese word "meshi", the Japanese equivalent of Sino-Japanese "go-han", is considered rough and masculine (男性語). The honorific "o-" is also sometimes attached to of native verbs (hence native "o-") to refer to a specific item associated with the verb, as in oshibori (お絞り、絞る) "hot towel", and onigiri/omusubi (お握り、握る and お結び、結ぶ) "rice ball". In rare cases, both a base form and honorific are in use with different readings. A notable example is 利益 "ri-eki" "benefit, profit (e.g., business)" and 御利益 "go-ri-yaku" "divine favor, grace"; plain "ri-yaku" is sometimes used, but "go-ri-eki" is generally not. The former, an everyday term, uses the usual
Oshibori 2004. The word oshibori comes from the Japanese word , meaning "to wring", with the honorific prefix "o-", which is added to several types of nouns, including many nouns related to washing or food; onigiri/omusubi (お握り and お結び) "rice ball" follows the same pattern – see honorific prefix usage. In Japanese script, the word oshibori is normally written in hiragana (おしぼり), seldom using kanji (お絞り or 御絞り). Oshibori are also known as "o-tefuki"; "tefuki" refers to ordinary handkerchiefs, and these derive from the Japanese (hand) and , to wipe. In mājan parlors, the words "atsushibo" and "tsumeshibo", from the Japanese