Questions tagged [connotation]
Cultural or emotional association beyond a word's or phrase's literal meaning.
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Usage/connotation of "いろ" meaning someone's "girl/lover"
In Rurouni Kenshin, a woman is running away from Kanryuu's men. A guy asks her "are you Kanryuu's girl?" (anta wa Kanryuu no iro ka?)
Anyways, my question is the usage of "iro" to ...
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Any reason "Naniwa musume" is used to refer to a girl in modern times (as opposed to "Oosaka musme")?
Naniwa is an antiquated name for what is now referred to as the Oosaka region (It was called Naniwa around the 1500s last, if I'm not mistaken).
That being said, In Shinya Shokudo S3E04 (released in ...
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Is ニュー・ハーフ considered a derogatory/offensive term in Japan for a transsexual individual?
Also, as a follow-up, is it used solely to refer to MtF trans individuals? From what I've read online in Japanese, that seems to be the case, but I just wanted to confirm. And if so, what is the most ...
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犬{いぬ}も食{く}わない having a connotation of getting involved in a lover's spat?
In SAO Progressive (2nd movie), Asuna and Kirito are arguing, and Kirito asks Argo to weigh in. Argo responds "犬{いぬ}も食{く}わない物{もの}に関{かか}わる気{き}はないよ~", which is officially translated as "...
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Connotation of "abazure" (shameless woman)?
Kimetsu no Yaiba is an anime set during the Taishou era (early 1900s). During Katanakaji no Sato-hen (ep10), a man says to an overly-friendly-looking woman "だまれ、あばずれが", which is localized as ...
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Are コミュ症 and コミュニケーション障害 informal/slang words in Japanese?
I would like to know the usage of these words. In English it seems to me that communication disorder is a more technical, clinical term.
But if I try to find the definition of コミュ症, such as on ...
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Any significant difference between 比較する (hikaku suru) and 比べる (kuraberu) for meaning "compare"?
In a jdrama I'm watching (Kazoku Game, for those who're curious), a little boy tells his older brother "兄ちゃんと比較されなければもっと普通に生きられたんだよ!" (if I wasn't compared to nii-chan, I'd've been able to ...
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Are 腹違い (harachigai) and 種違い (tanechigai) rude terms to use when referring to half-siblings?
腹違い and 種違い are ways to refer to siblings born of different mothers/fathers. Are these terms rude/disrespectful? Or are they about as innocuous as saying "half-siblings"?
Also, I could open ...
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Connotation of 酩酊 (meitei), meaning "drunkenness"?
In Yakuza Judgement, a person (who allegedly committed murder) was described with the phrase "酩酊状態にあった" (they were found in a state of drunkenness). However, the official subs translate/...
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Difference between "urayamashii" and "netamashii" for "jealous"? [duplicate]
I'm completely familiar with "urayamashii" to mean "jealous". But in Yakuza Judgement, I heard the term "netamashii" used instead. The context was that the prominent ...
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Connotation of 親密 (shinmitsu)
jisho.org translates shinmitsu as "intimacy; friendship", and says it's a common word. But I want to know its connotation. Is it heavily inclined to romance? Or heavily inclined towards a ...
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what is the difference between 転ぶ【ころぶ】 and 落ちる【おちる】
What is the difference between 転ぶ【ころぶ】 and 落ちる【おちる】?
Here is a nice entry about おちる
The differences with おちる (落ちる、堕ちる、墜ちる)
...but I have not found an explanation of the difference between 転ぶ【ころぶ】 and ...
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What is the connotation of まぐわう (referring to intercourse)?
I understand that まぐわう essentially refers to the act of sex. But I'm trying to get some idea of the connotation. In Yofukashi no Uta, it's translated/localized as "copulate", which has a ...
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Does まあ necessarily/usually have a romantic connotation? Or at least is まあ probably used romantically here?
From S01E01 / Ch1 of the anime/manga The Quintessential Quintuplets:
The male protagonist Fuutarou is supposed to be the new tutor of this transfer student, the female protagonist Itsuki, but in the ...
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Is there any difference in connotation between 悪い人 and 悪人?
Context: I like to translate song lyrics for fun and casual practice; two I've recently been listening to are 悪い人 by syudou and 悪人 by ive, and the similar titles got me wondering whether I should be ...
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Simple phrase with comma for emphasis, sounds natural?
I'm attempting to find an equivalent for the phrase "Broken, like glass.".
It should hold its emotional weight, so what comes to my mind is: 「ガラスみたい、破った。」, but I'm not sure if holds the same ...
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The meaning behind 国に帰る
I know the basic use of the phrase 国に帰る. What I’d like to know is when a Japanese person uses this phrase, do they (without giving it much thought, perhaps) imply that a foreigner is always to come ...
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Does そよ have a negative, or any, connotation?
Sorry to ask such a trivial question as this. 予め、お詫び申し上げます。
I've recently created just a few social media accounts with the prefix "soyo____". Now, if I were to start communicating with ...
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あからさま: difference with 明らか and its connotation
I was working on a mock JLPT question requiring me to choose one best option where あからさま is used correctly:
1 お酒を飲んだので顔があからさまになっている。
2 あの勝負はあからさまな八百長だ。
3 言い訳をしても事実はあからさまだ。
4 この料理はあからさまに美味しい。
I think ...
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Why can できている carry a judgemental, negative connotation?
My Japanese teacher, who is a native speaker, once answered a student's question about the difference between:
(彼は)ドイツ語ができる。
(彼は)ドイツ語ができている
He said that a younger speaker might be more likely to use ...
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Meaning of 譲る in 譲りきれない思い出
This is a part from a song text by Aimyon:
忘れられないものなどなくて
譲りきれない思い出ばかりで
いい加減に諦めなさいなんて
簡単に言わないで
So far I understand that きれない is used to modify the verb in front (here 譲る) so that the action continues ...
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Connotations and use of 日本晴(れ)
I know that 日本晴れ (にっぽん・ばれ)(it can be にほん, but is most commonly にっぽん) literally means "sunny Japan" and gives the sense of a clear sky, but I was wondering: are there any other connotations of this? I ...
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When is a table not a table?
A desk is a desk, but is there any important difference between the two words for "table"? Here is what the wwwjdic says:
卓 【たく; しょく】table; desk; (たく only) counter for tables, desks
机 【つくえ】 desk
...
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Does 同棲 always have a romantic connotation?
Take for instance the noun,
同棲組 which roughly means a group living together.
Does 同棲 always have a romantic connotation, or is it possible to use it in a non-romantic sense. For example, to ...
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Is there a difference in connotation between 森林 and 森? [duplicate]
I've checked in a couple of dictionaries already, and they describe bot 森林 and 森 as "forest." Are there any major differences in meaning between these words?
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Connotation of 行きますか vs 行きましょうか
My textbook has the following conversation:
A: 明日どこに行きますか。
B: デパートに行きましょう。
A: どのデパートに行きますか。
B: 貴方の家の北のデパートに行きましょう
The third line is translated to English in the textbook as "which department ...
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In what circumstances is it appropriate to use the word 連中
From the contexts in which I have heard it used, and also according to jisho.org, the word 連中{れんちゅう} appears to be a fairly informal word, on par with the use of the word "lot" in British English as a ...
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Regarding classification: 分類、類別、部類、etc
So in trying to make my own notes for things, I wanted to make use of the word "classifications". Not the act of classification, but rather the plural of the idea of "a classification", as in, "...
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Is 馬鹿げた only used in a negative way?
I seem to recall hearing it being used in an "That's crazy/insane/amazing","WOW" kind of way.
But looking it up, it seems to have more of a negative "That's stupid" kind of connotation to it.
In ...
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Are「まじめじゃない」、「まじめな人」subjective terms
I have a really hard time understanding the connotation of the term「まじめじゃない」or「まじめな人」, I know the denotation is "a serious person".
Phrases like「まじめに仕事する人 (A person who works hard/takes their job ...
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A phrase similar to "...is the mother of all f##k ups!"
So I was fixing some code (because someone thought they were smart enough to start using multiple inheritance and I guess "Kernighan's lever" came into effect) and I want to add a comment "Remember ...
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Bloatware (¿ブロートウェア?), crapware (¿クラップウェア?), craplets (¿馬鹿?) in Japanese
Using Google Translate I get the following translation
English Japanese
"bloatware" ⇒「bloatware」
"crapware" ⇒「クラップウェア」
"craplets" ⇒「馬鹿」(whether that's the translation or they're just trying to ...
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「ボーダー」... What border?
My gf loves me wearing striped shirts, as I'm not a skinny person (Japanese standard skinny, stateside I'm skin and bone) they naturally make me look fat!
She always says "ボーダーが好き" and I always think ...
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"善処します" What is the person saying this actually implying?
On the OpenStack contributor's guide, it contains the following:
In Japanese culture, people tend not to say yes or no clearly as a way to respect others and to avoid appearing argumentative. A ...
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Referring to someone's home in sonkeigo
I know that sonkeigo for someone's home is お宅, but since the word オタク has a quite negative connotation, I am worried that お宅 might not be appropriate, especially in spoken language (because there is ...
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Difference between koi and ai, aisuru [duplicate]
I'm trying to pin down the connotations of the word '愛する', romanised as 'aisuru'.
I had read that there were two forms of love - koi and ai - in a manga once. The original Japanese went - 'if you're ...
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Is "役立つ" a recent lexicalization of "役に立つ"? Is it less formal?
When did 役に立つ lexicalize to 役立{やくだ}つ?
Has 役立つ always been a word, and a word that is used more frequently than 役に立つ? A quick google shows 役立つ is used 3 times more frequently.
I am reading the ...
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What connotation does the ending -n to a Japanese female name have?
The Japanese female names that end with "i" can be altered by adding "n" in their end. E.g.:
"Konami" -> "Konamin"
"Mizuki" -> "Mizukin"
"Narumi" -> "Narumin"
"Chinami" -> "Chinamin"
I would like to ...
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Personal name contractions and bad connotations - いず as a contraction of 泉 (いずみ)
Are there any negative connotations associated with having いず as a contraction of the name 泉(いずみ)?
I know in English you could have 'Randy' as a contraction of Randall, which would generate quite a ...
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Nuances in context- なぜそんなことをしたのか - why he did it, or what caused him to do it?
I'm trying to read a light novel for the first time and it's been confusing so far, what with the historical present tense and everything, but I mostly managed through until I got to this one scene.
...
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Usage distinction between 季節 and 季
季節 is composed of two kanji, き and せつ, however, both of them mean 'season' when translated to English. Though I'm aware that 季 originally referred to the seasons of the year and 節 was initially used ...
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Can その程度 be used for a high degree or with a positive connotation?
Recently I have heard that the collocation その程度【ていど】 always implies a low degree, or rather a degree or level of something the speaker or author feels is insufficient or too low.
For example:
...
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「深酷」とは どういう意味ですか
現在、私は戦前の日本語を読んでいるところで、辞書にも存在していないことばを見つけました。次の文です:
...極めて深酷に徹底的と云はざるを得ない。
推測ですが、私にはこのように思われます:
...極めて深刻に徹底的と言えざるを得ない。
かと思っていますが、辞書などの根拠がないので、ちょっと自信がないです。
旧字体・新字体の便利帳を見ても、これは書いてありません。
質問として、
...