KT41 Word Line
ぼくねんじん
朴念仁
Bokunenjin
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Meaning
a wooden, unsociable person
A taciturn, unfriendly person. Also used as an insult for someone tactless who does not understand how things work.
Example
何を話しかけても「ああ」としか返さない朴念仁で、会話が続かない。
Whatever you say to them, all you get back is "Yeah." They are such a bokunenjin that the conversation goes nowhere.
Origin
It appears to be a Chinese-style compound coined in Japan (wasei kango), and its origin is unclear. The kanji are ateji: boku (朴) is explained as the plainness of soboku and bokutotsu, nen (念) as thought, and jin (仁) as person. An example appears in the late Edo-period comic book (kokkeibon) Ukiyoburo.