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As discussed in this question, one meaning for じき is "soon, momentarily". Looking it up in my (English/Japanese) dictionary, I found both the kanjis 時期 and 直 for it.

I looked them up further (online), and could only find the meaning of まっすぐであること for 直{じき}. Is my dictionary misleading me?

From just what I've seen, it seems like it's rarely written in kanji, and it makes sense in my head that the kanji for 直{す}ぐ would be used, so this question is more academic than practical, but I'd still appreciate any insight on it.

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I suggest that you look up 時期. It does not mean "soon". – Dono Oct 19 '12 at 5:01
@Dono: If you'll read my question...I did look it up, and in my dictionary it says "soon, shortly". Rikai-chan says it too. That's what I meant when I asked "Is my dictionary misleading me?" – silvermaple Oct 19 '12 at 5:11
If that is what your dictionary says, then it is wrong. Try this dictionary here: dic.yahoo.co.jp/… – Dono Oct 19 '12 at 5:15
@Dono: Did you read my question? Or did I not make it clear that I already did that? That's precisely what prompted my question. – silvermaple Oct 19 '12 at 5:25
Yes, I did. As I said, either your dictionary is wrong, or you are not using it correctly. So I gave you a direct link to a definition of the term: 1) 事を行う時。おり。, 2) 期間。期限。, 3) 季節。時節. From this is should be clear that it does not mean "soon". – Dono Oct 19 '12 at 5:45
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1 Answer

up vote 8 down vote accepted

直 and 時期 are completely unrelated, they just happen to both be written as じき in hiragana.

時期 is simply means a period or instance of time like in 入学の時期 (when you enter school), like 年末年始は一番忙しい時期です (the end and beginning of the year is the busiest time period) or 今はその時期ではない (now is not the time).

直 can also be seen in the words like [直]{ただ}ちに . 直に however means "in a short time" and can be replaced with もうすぐ (there also is the form もうじき). For example, もうじき来るよ (he/she will be coming soon).

However, I should point out that the usage has become less common (I've never heard anyone under 30 use 直 before) and you probably will hear it with older people.

Also, one reason you probably see it in hiragana more is because there also is [直に]{じかに}, like in 彼からじかに聞いた話 (a story I directly heard from him), so there probably is a tendency to disambiguate the two.

Side Note

In the linked question, the selected answer says:

じき means temporally farther than すぐ

That is totally wrong. They are equivalent in meaning.

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