The meaning of words or phrases within certain contexts, especially when it does not seem to match the standard definition.
15
votes
1answer
176 views
How did 革 “leather” come to mean newness?
How did the word 革{かわ}, 革{カク} "leather" acheive the meaning "newness"? 広辞苑 lists one of the definitions (under かく) as "あらたまること, あらためること", and we can see this in some of its associated 熟語: 変革, 改革, 革新. ...
15
votes
2answers
329 views
What does the nakaguro (・) between these two words mean?
The first sentence on the Mac OS X article on the Japanese version of Wikipedia reads:
Mac OS X（マック オーエス テン）は、アップルが[開発]{かいはつ}・[販売]{はんばい}する、Macintoshコンピュータ[用]{よう}の[現行]{げんこう}オペレーティングシステム (OS) である。
...
15
votes
2answers
567 views
Why does 今度【こんど】 mean “next time”?
The word 今度【こんど】, though its literal meaning is "this time" is in my experience used pretty heavily to refer to tbe next time or some unspecified point in the future. For example:
...
14
votes
2answers
527 views
What connotation does なんだ add?
Specifically, in the expression 好きなんだ (I love you) why not just say 好きだ or 好きです?
13
votes
2answers
875 views
Meaning of 情弱乙 ?
I see 情弱乙 being used (as an interjection?) on many websites, but I can't find it in any dictionary, even online dictionaries. I guess the pronunciation is じょうじゃくおつ. What does it mean?
Examples:
情弱乙！
...
13
votes
1answer
252 views
what is the difference between ごとに and おきに?
Both ごとに and おきに appear to mean "repeatedly at intervals".
What is the difference between these two expressions?
11
votes
2answers
396 views
Pronunciation and meaning of
I just received an email ending like this:
是非是非また誘って
How to read the ?
Zero results on Google.
As for the meaning, is it equivalent to よ ?
11
votes
4answers
300 views
“Unsolvable problem”
What is the correct construction of "unsolvable problem"? Is it "解{と}けられない問題{もんだい}"？(Question 1)
Plain(intransitive): 解{と}ける "To be solved".
Potential form(of intransitive): 解けられる "can be ...
11
votes
2answers
289 views
Adjectives functioning both as イ- and ナ-adjective
This question has made me think about the class of adjectives, which can function both as イ- and as ナ-adjective, e.g.
大きい 大きな
小さい 小さな
真っ白い 真っ白な (etc.)
細かい 細かな
暖かい 暖かな
四角い 四角な (etc.)
柔らかい ...
10
votes
4answers
450 views
What's the difference between いいえ and English's “no”?
In "Japanese for Busy People I" page 2 (kana or romaji edition) it says that いいえ is 'virtually the same as "no"'.
It sounds like there are some differences, but they want to omit mentioning them for ...
10
votes
2answers
341 views
What does 逃げっこなしにしよう mean?
So, I was reading a children's story and came across this sentence:
「いいか、この最後のローソクが消えたら、本当のお化けが出るかもしれん。だが、どんなお化けが出ようと、お互いに逃げっこなしにしよう」
What I'm having trouble understanding and dictionaries haven't ...
10
votes
2answers
314 views
Ups and downs: かみ・しも vs うえ・した
So, we have the kanji 上・下 which can be read as either かみ・しも or うえ・した, and as I understand it, those two are antonym pairs. But what are the differences between the two?
The thesaurus isn't very ...
10
votes
1answer
164 views
What is the significance of a large く character in literary texts?
I am currently reading an early story by Tanizaki Junichiro in Japanese. I have come across both the hiragana く and ぐ written twice the size they usually are, taking up the same amount of space on the ...
9
votes
3answers
305 views
How can you figure out whether 鍵【かぎ】 means “lock” or “key”?
Recently, I forgot whether 鍵【かぎ】 meant lock or key, so I looked it up quickly on my phone's dictionary... And then I found out that it actually means both.
What are the best ways to figure out if ...
9
votes
2answers
315 views
います and あります usage
I just learned about: います and あります.
I know I should use います for people and moving things and あります for plants and inanimate things.
I have two doubts:
Which one should I use with "dead body". For ...
9
votes
3answers
269 views
What is the difference between ～すぎ and ～すぎる?
When I was playing a video game a few months ago, I noticed that some of the characters (mostly young teen females, in case it matters) kept saying ～すぎ instead of ～すぎる.
For example, when one of the ...
9
votes
2answers
173 views
[潔]{いさぎよ}い meaning
Can anyone tell me more about 潔い? I've looked in Goo, Alc, Kenkyusha, and Edict, and the definitions refer to "sportsmanlike", "gracious", or "take it like a man". However, I'm doubtful if these are ...
9
votes
2answers
247 views
How do I decide when to use plain or past verb form?
In
(1) 明日、家へ帰って、母が作ったおいしい料理を食べます。
why is it 作った when it’s a future event? If I wanted to create a clause meaning 'delicious food my mother makes', it would be 母が作るおいしい料理. Does changing 作った in ...
9
votes
1answer
270 views
Qualitative intensifiers e.g. とても, とっても, 超, etc. How are they different?
How are とても/とっても, でかい/でっかい, 超 (and others that I have yet to encounter) used differently? I figured that for とても/とっても-type difference is that the double-consonant(geminated) version is stronger i.e. a ...
9
votes
1answer
345 views
Did standalone noun “好き” mean a person in classical Japanese?
In classical Japanese, did standalone noun “好き” mean a person who likes something? I do not think that it does in modern Japanese, although it sometimes means a person when used as a suffix (e.g. ...
9
votes
1answer
343 views
Comparing 気にする vs. 気になる
Consider this example sentence from SPACEALC:
あなたがどうしているか気になっていた。
"I was concerned about how you were."
What is the difference when 気にする is used instead? I.e.,
あなたがどうしているか気にしていた。
～なる ...
8
votes
4answers
215 views
Meaning of: イベントの前ふりをば。
A colleague is organizing an event and sent everyone an email beginning like this:
田中イベント担当の田中です。
イベントの前ふりをば。
... (explanation about the event)
The first line is a funny intro (the guy ...
8
votes
2answers
552 views
How do I “understand” kaomoji? (Japanese smilies)
When I see something like this:
ﾍ(´∀｀ﾍ)ﾍ(´∀｀ﾍ)ﾖｲﾖｲ(ﾉ´∀｀)ﾉ(ﾉ´∀｀)ﾉﾖｲﾖｲ♪
I think some voodoo demon wants to say something to me. o_O
My Japanese friends often use kaomoji. But, when they add (´▽｀) ...
8
votes
1answer
195 views
What is the difference between 部屋 and 室?
When referring to a room (in a building), what is the difference in usage, if any?
I looked up the definitions and checked some sample phrases, but I could not see any real difference.
I usually read ...
8
votes
2answers
231 views
What しかりだ does mean?
I need to know what しかりだ does mean. I couldn't find over internet a satisfactory meaning.
It is from a manga called Saint Seiya. Here is the whole text:
黄金聖闘士 十二人とはいえ まだ幼い者が かなり多い シルバーセイント ...
8
votes
1answer
171 views
i-adjectives that end in a 〜ない which doesn't seem to be 〜無{な}い
I noticed there are many 形容詞{けいようし} (i-adjectives) that end in 〜ない, where the な is not part of the kanji, and doesn't seem to have the meaning 無い.
Examples:
危{あぶ}ない means "dangerous", while 危 ...
8
votes
1answer
759 views
Onigiri and nigiri
I was reading this two articles:
Onigiri wikipedia's article
Nigiri explanation inside wikipedia's sushi article
I first thought that onigiri was a type of sushi but it's not.
It calls my ...
8
votes
2answers
426 views
What does using という add to a sentence?
This sentence is from a grammar website:
主人公が犯人だったというのが一番面白かった。
Why is という necessary?
What does it add?
And what meaning is lost in writing the sentence without it? For example, as in:
...
8
votes
1answer
350 views
Can I use 行っている間（に） in the sense of a habitual action?
Knowing that 行く is punctual, stative, and a motion verb, I also know that, 日本に行っている means "I/he/she have gone to Japan (and am still there)" rather than "I am currently going to Japan."
I also feel ...
8
votes
1answer
354 views
Usage and meaning of [passive verb]-てみれば
I am familiar with the set phrase 「言われてみれば」 as a way to say "Now that you say that", but as I examine the phrase further, the phrase structure strikes me as strange. The 〜てみる conjugation is commonly ...
8
votes
1answer
186 views
が and に interchangeability and difference in meaning
Consider these sentences:
だれ{が・に}これが出来るか
だれ{が・に}日本語が分からないか
When both が and に are acceptable, what is their difference in meaning and practical usage?
7
votes
5answers
408 views
Who scolded whom in Aに怒られる?
I can see that someone got mad or someone made someone else mad. The things that make it difficult are に and the られる form of 怒る. What does this mean? How do you figure out who did what in these types ...
7
votes
4answers
2k views
What does チャラ mean?
What does チャラ mean? It was explained here that チャラ男 means light image. Does that mean cool image of a person? A cool person?
...
7
votes
3answers
631 views
Other meanings of でしょう besides “probably”
でしょう can usually be understood to mean "probably." But does it sometimes mean the same thing as ですね? What other meanings can it have? Can it mean "you know?"
7
votes
3answers
282 views
うるさい written as 五月蝿い
This is a follow-up question to Does うるさい have a "negative" connotation.
I've seen うるさい written as 五月蝿い.
現代では、is this form used often / at all?
What does this have to do with flies (蝿【はえ】) in May? ...
7
votes
1answer
221 views
Would 私は怖い mean “I'm scared” or “I'm scary”?
Or does it mean both? If so, is there any way to explicitly distinguish between "I'm scared" and "I'm scary"?
If it only means one and not the other, how would you say the other?
7
votes
2answers
188 views
What is the meaning of 〜たりして?
I've just come across "〜していたりして" at the end of a sentence in a post on Facebook, so it's probably very casual. Does anyone know the correct meaning and typical usage?
7
votes
2answers
346 views
What is だって when it's at the beginning of a sentence?
I have read several definitions of だって but none of them seem to make sense when I see it at the beginning of a sentence and I read the context. I saw one example Japanese sentence and in the English ...
7
votes
2answers
180 views
How broad is the meaning of 薬?
I saw on a board the other day someone referring to insecticide as "薬", which doesn't really fit with the English conception of "medicine". I looked up "薬" in Kenkyuusha, and sure enough, "chemical" ...
7
votes
1answer
178 views
Passive form - The exact difference between を and が
I've seen this question asked before, but i feel the answer didn't quite answer all my questions, so here goes.
Now, I am rather sure that this:
ケーキが食べられた
Means:
The cake was eaten. (by ...
7
votes
1answer
116 views
Meaning of る in 問われたる
From the beginning of the novel "The Grove", what does the る mean in
検非違使に問われた る 木樵りの物語
問われた is the passive of 問う, but where does the る come from? Is it the short form of いる?
7
votes
1answer
75 views
How is 発行 different from 刊行?
Also, how does 発刊 fit into all of this?
Is it that 発行 can be used for magazines, newspapers and books while 刊行 can't be used for newspapers?
7
votes
2answers
325 views
Meaning of …立てちゃいなよ
I am organizing an event and posted a flyer on a famous SNS.
Someone commented on it saying: イベント立てちゃいなよ
From the context I guess it is advising me to create an event (SNS feature), am I mistaken?
...
7
votes
1answer
129 views
ところ vs どころ: Interchangeable or different meanings altogether?
I have two questions.
A) Why do they use どころ instead of ところ in this sentence? Is it possible to use ところ without changing the meaning?
...
7
votes
1answer
267 views
What does “ちるの、びるの” mean?
Context: 織次{おりじ} the protagonist is trying to buy back a set of drawings from his father's friend, who is mysteriously evasive about the matter.
...
6
votes
3answers
365 views
What does ちがいます。 mean?
I saw this translated in the first episode of FLCL as "It's wrong.", but checking the translation, I get "Different." Can someone clear this up? Thanks.
6
votes
3answers
238 views
より not used for comparing?
The title of a piano arrangement of a Touhou song (Hakurei Reimu's Theme) is:
「東方永夜抄 - Imperishable Night.」 より 博麗霊夢のテーム
(Question) What does より do in the title?
If it were to mean "from the ...
6
votes
4answers
193 views
Problem understanding a sentence
The sentence トムは私より身長が高いです。 means "Tom is taller than I me." but I'm trying to find the meaning of each word in order to understand the japanese sentence better. Here is what I have so far:
トムは(Tom ...
6
votes
3answers
507 views
よかろう - What does it mean? Where does it come from?
This is another question that's come from a 昔話。
We have the following section:
大きい箱と小さい箱がありますが、どちらがいいですか。
どちらも結構じゃが、どうしてもと言うのなら、小さいほうでよかろう。
I'm having trouble with the second sentence. My ...
6
votes
3answers
319 views
Is it true that the word “Omar” means “baby toilet” in Japanese?
I know it sounds funny, but my name is Omar, and one of my friends said that my name means "toilet for babies" in Japanese. I wanted to check if this is correct, because Google Translate did not help ...
