The meaning of words or phrases within certain contexts, especially when it does not seem to match the standard definition.
6
votes
3answers
341 views
一応: Usage and meaning
I've never really fully grasped the meaning of [一]{いち}[応]{おう} since it seems to have no good English equivalent. What is the meaning, usage, and nuances of 一応?
6
votes
1answer
432 views
What is the meaning of あるある?
I saw it used on Twitter several times, but googling around I couldn't figure it out.
Here are some examples.
"@mao_sid: 24あるある。シーズン2ぐらいから、あのちょいちょい入ってくるデジタル時計いらないなぁって思いだす。"
"@mao_sid: ...
6
votes
1answer
106 views
Cohortative ましょう with and without the auxiliary construction ～てみる
In "何かしてみましょう。" meaning "Let's try/do something.", what is the literal translation of "してみましょう"? I've got "して" means "doing" and "みましょう" means "let's watch or let's?".
How is "してみましょう" different ...
6
votes
2answers
272 views
What does “さ” means in 探偵さ?
I watch an animation called Detective Conan, which is about a detective. I read translations, but try to listen in Japanese. Sometimes, when he is asked "who are you?", the main character answers by ...
6
votes
2answers
243 views
Making sense of transitive usage of 行く and 来る - 「を行く」 and 「を来る」
I think it's known that some intransitive verbs can take を particle and be used as transitive verbs such as for example 「私のことを分かってくれない」. While using 分かる transitively would require specific scenarios ...
6
votes
3answers
156 views
Does the use of は or omitting は affect the listener's reply?
This is a question taken from a JLPT excercise workbook.
Person A: 新聞をよく読みますか。
Person B: そうですね。毎日は[Fill in this blank]。
I am given 4 choices, of which only 2 are conjugated correctly.
...
6
votes
2answers
153 views
What's the meaning of すます in 耳をすませば?
What's the meaning of すます in 耳をすませば?
How would you translate this?
6
votes
2answers
160 views
Reading 男 or 女 as ひと
Why is it that in Japanese sentence one sees 男 or 女 with furigana that says ひと? Furigana is supposed to help clarify the meaning of a kanji character, but using ひと doesn't seem to help clarify ...
6
votes
2answers
130 views
Help translating よなも in a song
This is from a Trigun soundtrack, song called Sound Life (lyrics), 3rd line:
３つ目の夜に ワルツの子は世界面にウエーブを 打つ
The 世界面 is translated as "world face", however pronunciation is given as よなも.
I can't find ...
6
votes
2answers
112 views
Can んだった and んじゃなかった be used like the past version of んだ and んじゃない?
I know that んだった and んじゃなかった can be used to say "Should have done" and "Shouldn't have done". I am wondering, however, if they can be used as a past version of んだ
Take for example this conversation:
...
6
votes
1answer
139 views
Other uses of “imperative prohibition” form eg わかるな ・すわんな
I saw a film where in two separate scenes the characters seemed to use the "imperative-prohibition" to invite the opposite action:
1.In one scene a father after explaining something to his son ...
6
votes
1answer
161 views
What does 台 mean when proceeded by a number (of yen)
I came across this phrase in a news article about a budget reduction:
．．．．６千億円台になる．．．．
I was wondering what this use of 台 means. I did a Google search of 円台 and the amount of yen doesn't seem to ...
6
votes
2answers
217 views
What is the meaning of お気の毒に and how is it used?
Although the there are several definitions in the dictionary:
my condolences
that's too bad
my sympathies
What does お気の毒に literally mean? I'm guessing that it might have something to do with ...
6
votes
2answers
264 views
に and で revisited
Consider the statement A: ホテル（に/で）泊まる. For both cases would translate to "I stay at a hotel" in English. However they are answers to different questions.
Consider the questions １．どこに泊まる and ...
6
votes
2answers
333 views
Does なかなか (with negative verb) mean “by no means” or “considerably”?
WWWJDIC defines なかなか (with negative verb) as by no means
But shouldn't it have been considerably ?
By no means means 100% not
considerably means like 85% not
So does なかなか (with negative verb) ...
6
votes
1answer
168 views
What does「新聞っぽい曜日」mean? Newspaperish? Commonplace? Routine?
This is a practice problem from a textbook on natural language processing:
やってみよう:ブラウンコーパスのニュースとロマンスの 2 つのジャンルのデータを利用して、どの曜日がもっとも新聞っぽく、どの曜日がもっともロマンチックかを調べてみよう。
"Which day of the week is ...
6
votes
1answer
179 views
A word like マシ without the negative connotation
When asking, "which is better," in Japanese, I could write どっちがマシ？
However マシ has a negative connotation, implying that even though something is better it's still undesirable.
What's a word like マシ ...
6
votes
2answers
175 views
6
votes
1answer
142 views
Which つける do I use?
So I looked up つける and saw it can be written as:
付ける
着ける
附ける
And they all seem to have the exact same definition: to attach, to join, to add, to append, etc. So are these "spellings" ...
6
votes
1answer
218 views
Differences in meaning of using へ, に, or で in marking locations.
in "明日、姉とデパート＿買い物に行きます。"
why is へ favoured over で in my workbook?
If i ask myself the question "明日は、何をする" Can i answer it with "買い物に行く" and make ”デパート” an incidental location? That was how i justified ...
5
votes
4answers
177 views
Using すみません instead of ありがとう
Can すみません always be used in place of ありがとう? What's the difference?
When using すみません to express thanks, what others words are used with it?
Can you show some examples?
5
votes
3answers
177 views
Why use 数年 in あれから１０数年?
My question is on 「あれから１０数年」. My understanding is that this translates to roughly, "It's been 10 years since then."
The dictionary says「数年」 means "several years" or "a number of years". How does ...
5
votes
2answers
286 views
Japanese don't learn kanji meaning only readings? Does it make sense for a kanji to have a key meaning to identify it?
As I understand it works like this. By the time Japanese kids enter first grade they have more or less decent vocabulary of words they know. So when kanjis are taught I can't even imagine how to tell ...
5
votes
3answers
288 views
Is it normal to use ただいま in situations other than ただいま戻【もど】りました?
By itself, I would say that 「ただいま」 means something like "just now". I've used it a few times in sentences like this, but it feels somewhat awkward, as I am always reminded of ただいま戻【もど】りました.
So, for ...
5
votes
2answers
295 views
How can 「うん」 be used to mean both “yes” and “no?”
I was told by my Japanese teacher that 「うん」 can be used as a casual way to say "yes" as well as "no." If this is true, how can you tell the difference, absent any additional information?
5
votes
3answers
227 views
Does さえ mean “even” in the following sentence?
I encountered the following on our daily reading.
どのような企業{きぎょう}も、創業期{そうぎょうき}には全社員が昼食をとること さえ 忘れてしまうほど、忙しくフル回転していたものです。
In a business, a person was so busy that he forgot to eat lunch even ...
5
votes
2answers
278 views
What is the function of と when it's not quoting, or doing exhaustive listing?
Consider these two sentences:
(1) 母はついてくるようにアリスに合図した (Mother signaled to Alice to follow her)
(2) 父は手で私に部屋を出ていくようにと合図した。 (Father gestured to me to go out of the room)
And another sentence ...
5
votes
1answer
142 views
Does 寒気がする really mean “have a chill” or is it just cold?
Can the expression:
寒気{さむけ}が する
really mean feel cold and also have a chill (as per many dictionaries)?
To me, to have a chill/bug means to be sick from a virus/cold for a short period: have I ...
5
votes
1answer
653 views
What does どうだ mean?
So, I have the sentence
礼儀のひとつも見せたらどうだね騎士殿
I am getting stumped on the どうだ part. If I am reading the slang dictionary correctly (and I can only find it in a non-English one), it seems to be ...
5
votes
1answer
151 views
Why do ~なんてもんじゃないよ/~たのなのって=とても？
Both the following two expressions from my text book 完全マスター聴解N１ are explained as とても（高い／人が多かった）:
高いなんてもんじゃないよ
人が多かったのなのって
Could someone explain what they are based on/where they come from ...
5
votes
1answer
103 views
What is koshinashi?
I can't find コシなし defined in any dictionary. It looks like it might have something to do with udon noodles.
5
votes
1answer
176 views
Definition of ブラコン when discussing musical preferences
A Japanese person told me that they have ブラコン。I looked it up on Wikipedia and it said something like an emotional attachment to one's brother. But they said that it meant something like someone who ...
5
votes
1answer
89 views
Help for this expression: 猿は人間に毛が三筋足らぬ
I read this expression in a text. It seems to be an old proverb about monkeys. But I am not sure about its meaning. Why 筋, for instance? Does it means muscle? reasoning faculty? Why would they be ...
5
votes
1answer
153 views
What does ドン引き mean?
While i was talking with my japanese friends, that word just came up they could't explain that. Can you tell me what does ドン引き mean?
5
votes
1answer
283 views
I don't understand the meaning of the 2 sentences. Can somebody help me?
This is dialogue (It's from magazine).
A: 現実場面では気★いが山のように出て事件も死ぬほど起こしてて、タブー云々と言ってるうちに表現が現実に負けちゃってるじゃん、最近って。
B: 俺も別に[奇]{き}をてらってタブー演るわけじゃなくて.
I absolutely don't understand the first part of the first ...
5
votes
1answer
114 views
What may be the difference between the usage of 自尊心 ,誇りand 自慢?
I read a paragraph and the paragraph contains the word 自尊心.
I want to know meaning of 自尊心.
Dictionary says 自尊心 = pride.
Is it same with 誇り? or 自慢?
What may be the difference between the usage of ...
5
votes
1answer
145 views
しゅうと／シュート - The great equalizer
I was watching the movie Mr. Baseball the other day. Several times during the movie they talk about しゅうと which they describe as "the great equalizer". (Could possibly be しゅうとう, but their dialog does ...
5
votes
1answer
133 views
Can a cathedral be referred to as a 寺?
I was listening to a song Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame in Japanese (the intro, The Bells of Notre Dame or ノートルダムの鐘), and I noticed that they referred to the cathedral as a 「てら」. I thought that was ...
5
votes
1answer
158 views
Why is topology called 位相幾何学?
Topology in English is called 位相幾何学 in Japanese; also, topological space is called 位相空間. But why is topology called 位相幾何学? What is the correspondence between topo and 位相? What is the origin of 位相?
5
votes
1answer
176 views
自分の vs 自らの when used for humans
What's the difference between 自分の and 自らの?
Both can be used to mean "oneself", but is there a difference in their nuances / usages?
(e.g. what would be the difference between あの子は、自らの命と引換に… and ...
5
votes
1answer
147 views
勤め vs 役目
What is the difference between 勤め and 役目?
Both seems to mean duty (something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation), but what is the difference in their nuance and ...
5
votes
1answer
94 views
Meaning of 掛ける after ご面倒?
ご面倒をお掛けして申し訳ございません。 means "We are sorry for the inconvenience." but what is the meaning of 掛ける in this context?
5
votes
1answer
279 views
Can もの be used to imply the value of something that is a こと?
I thought of this question and quickly realized that I already knew a possible example. Japanese band ZONE's most popular song is called 「secret base～君【きみ】がくれたもの～」. The lyrics can be read here or at ...
5
votes
1answer
110 views
What does “気結び” mean?
According to a (non japanese, but he spent lots of time in Japan) Aikido teacher I know, this is supposed to represent "an obligation bounding student and teacher".
To be honest, I am a bit ...
5
votes
1answer
173 views
What does なんたらという mean?
What does なんたらという mean? I searched なんたら's meaning and it showed. The following
oojah
oojahkapiv
oojamaflip
oojar
oojiboo
I used eow.alc.co.jp to search.
...
5
votes
1answer
86 views
What is the difference between 家屋, 家 and 住居
I've found yet another word that's translated as 'home' which now makes it 3. Could you please tell me if these words have the same exact meaning or is there any difference between their usage?
5
votes
1answer
124 views
What does うんたらかんたら mean?
I recently heard this phrase being told in a show, but I just couldn't make sense of what it means...And what really caught my attention was that the listener was really surprised to hear this phrase ...
5
votes
1answer
287 views
What does お土産持しててね mean?
I got a message from a friend, about to go on a trip, and it ended with: お土産持しててね
I think it's basically "[I'll] bring a souvenir/gift/omiyage [for you]" but I'm not familiar with the 持してて part, I've ...
4
votes
2answers
220 views
What does あらいだす mean?
What does あらいだす mean? I have been hearing it from my colleague and based on his explanation it means to identify. For example identify the problem. I tried to search the net and it only results to ...
4
votes
2answers
146 views
Meaning of あくまで in あくまで私個人の意見です
What is the meaning of あくまで in the sentence あくまで私個人の意見です ?
ALC: back and edge, consistently
GJiten: to the end; to the bitter end; to the last; stubbornly; persistently; to the utmost
What nuance is ...
