The meaning of words or phrases within certain contexts, especially when it does not seem to match the standard definition.
1
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1answer
98 views
What does ピグ mean? (Not pig.)
I was reading http://helps.ameba.jp/faq/pigg/5301/post_362.html, and it said "ピグ", I can't for the life figure out for the life of me what it means (Unless it means pig, and contextually that makes no ...
3
votes
1answer
104 views
Meaning of どこの ( + noun)?
I found Shimazaki Touson's work 'shiawase', and read the first few lines:
「幸せ」が色々な家へたずねて行きました。だれでも幸せの欲しくないひとはありませんから、どこの家をたずねましても、みんな大喜びでむかえてくれるに違いありません。
My question is how I can translate
...
3
votes
1answer
120 views
What are some translations for 後は無い?
Does it have a less literal meaning that "nothing left behind"?
3
votes
1answer
91 views
What does 直打ち mean? also whats the reading?
Can someone help me understand this 直打ち, as used in the following sentence:
URLを直打ちしてアクセスされた可能性があります。
(this is an error message in a log file)
My dictionaries have no idea what this word means.
As ...
5
votes
2answers
212 views
What does おめでとう煜ございます mean?
At first I thought it was a typo, but inserting the character 煜 into birthday wishes or the like seems to be common, e.g.
おめでとう煜ございます
おめでとうございます煜
おめでとう煜ございます煜
I have several problems:
What ...
3
votes
3answers
199 views
How can I translate けど in this sentence?
I don't get these sentences; the first one ends with けど (plus I don't get why there is the use of !? at the end)
Here the sentences:
俺モデル!
顔命なの です
けど!?
んなに
硬くねーだろ>
I know that けど ...
3
votes
1answer
92 views
Is this word slang? アメテ
I can't find a definition for this word アメテ. Aside from sounding like an amateur, the word didn't make sense in the context.
In the context, a character was flipping out. The entire sentence he ...
2
votes
1answer
78 views
Why use 分 in this question?
I have come across the following sentence :
そのダンボ－ルゴミに出す分ですか？
I understand it means something like "Are you throwing out this cardbox?". But what does 分 mean in this context and why is it at that ...
1
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1answer
79 views
1
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1answer
64 views
関わらず, こうして, and “Titles”
My question concerns the middle part of this sentence.
宮さんは、僕がこうして敬称付きで呼ぶにも関わらず、 見た目十代前半くらいの少女なのだった。
How exactly does こうして affect the meaning of the sentence?
What part of the sentence is 関わらず ...
6
votes
1answer
95 views
I can't find a translation for 言やいー
I would very much appreciate it if someone could tell me what 言やいー refers to. All I know is that 言 has something to do with speaking or words, but that alone doesn't help. Is it slang?
The entire ...
2
votes
1answer
52 views
Use of ご and にね
In the following sentence, how are にね and ご used in that first clause. I'm baffled. They seem to have no meaning.
で、そんなご身分にね、一年も経てばいよいよ引け目を感じますよ。
Thanks for your help.
2
votes
1answer
74 views
What's the meaning of とこに?
Pretty much I couldn't find this とこに in my dictionary so I was wondering what it means.
Here the context to better understand:
あんなとこにタオル落ちてる
Also is あんな a slang for あのな?
Thanks in advance c:
I ...
1
vote
1answer
104 views
How do you be sarcastic in Japanese? [duplicate]
Especially in text, is there a clue in Japanese as to whether someone is being sarcastic, or is it as ambiguous as it is in English? And how do you form a sentence so as to make it obviously ...
1
vote
1answer
59 views
What does やさぐれ mean?
I believe it has something to do with bullying.
Also, I think I heard it as a verb: やさぐれる
I can't seem to find much information about it. Is it slang?
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2answers
106 views
What does「散々人を待たせておいて最初の一言がそれか」mean?
I am unsure how to translate the following phrase:
[散々]{さんざん}人{ひと}を待{ま}たせておいて最初{さいしょ}の一言{ひとこと}がそれか
My guess as to how this phrase translates is:
Is that the first thing people say to those ...
3
votes
1answer
96 views
What does 彼のままだった mean?
In the following phrase:「時{とき}が過{す}ぎても彼{かれ}のままだった。」what does the「彼{かれ}のままだった」part mean?
My guess is that I can translate this phrase into something like "He's the same" or "he didn't change", but I'm ...
1
vote
0answers
145 views
キリンとゾウ：どっちが大きい？ [closed]
My Japanese colleagues are having a heated debate about which animal is the most 大きい : giraffe or elephant?
Both sides have their arguments (height/volume), so is it entirely a matter of personal ...
1
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1answer
160 views
What is the meaning of “beta”?
Can somebody please explain what "beta" means in the following sentence:
Tsugi no mokutekichi wa beta da keredo, Shikago.
3
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1answer
200 views
15
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2answers
646 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:
...
2
votes
1answer
122 views
What does the 「っち」 in ＠「見守りっち」 translate into?
What does Verb in 「ます」form +「っち」 mean?
What does the 「っち」 in ＠「見守りっち」 translate into?
3
votes
4answers
298 views
Parsing a specific sentence from a book
I have this following sentence:
横線――ＨＰバーの名で呼ばれる青いそれは、俺の生命の残量を可視化したものだ。
There are a few questions I came up with about this sentence:
The first part of the sentence is: 横線―――ＨＰバーの名で呼ばれる青いそれ, ...
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vote
2answers
124 views
What is the difference between 怖い and 恐い
As a follow-up to Would 私は怖い mean "I'm scared" or "I'm scary"?
We know that 怖い can mean both "to be scared" and "to be scary to somebody".
What about the difference ...
7
votes
1answer
245 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?
5
votes
1answer
161 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?
3
votes
1answer
114 views
What's the difference between どうして and どうやって?
I've read on stackexchange that どうやって can be used to mean "what did you do in order to x"
どうやってお医者になったか? - What did you do in order to become a doctor?
This definition makes alot of sense to ...
2
votes
1answer
119 views
What does “僕が来る前からこーだったんですが?” mean?
Well, the title says it.
The sentence is from a manga, where a boy lives together with her very lazy aunt, so the boy has to take care of laundry, cleaning dishes, cooking etc. while she's drinking ...
2
votes
1answer
126 views
Alternate meaning of 見えない when used as an expression?
I've always learned that 見えない means "unseen" or "invisible".
However, lately I've been seeing quite a few Japanese people in online games that, upon failing to complete some (usually very difficult) ...
2
votes
2answers
128 views
Is there a Japanese saying like その頑張りは、すべてむだというかそういう気持ちになる , related to the working conditions of doctors in a hospital?
On NHK NewsWatch 9 yesterday, they were talking about the shortage of emergency room doctors, and the resulting situations lately where hospitals were forced to turn away emergency patients. In many ...
2
votes
1answer
157 views
What is the meaning of 大奥婚?
This headline in today's zakzak news, related to actress Miho Kanno getting married.
堺雅人＆菅野美穂、“大奥婚”！ 電撃ゴールイン
What is the meaning of 大奥婚? I know 大奥 and 婚 by themselves, but not together. I ...
3
votes
1answer
76 views
なにかと思ったら meaning
なにかと思ったら, I have come across this sentence a couple of times when talking to Japanese people, but I seem to struggle with the actual meaning.
I translate it as "if I am thinking of something" but the ...
4
votes
2answers
162 views
Meaning of でもない in this context?
While listening to the song "Yasashisa no Riyuu", I noticed the following sentence:
今は誰の名前でもない 輝きの彼方へ
Which by the fansub is translated like this:
Now it doesn't matter whose name it may ...
3
votes
1answer
101 views
What's the difference between 程 and 程度?
What the difference between 程 and 程度?
I haven't been able to find any using my dictionary.
6
votes
2answers
133 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 ...
4
votes
1answer
110 views
What does ホイっと mean?
in a manga I was reading this expression appeared.
It was about a lazy girl, who was thinking about getting herself a boyfriend (so that he can do the house chores for her), and then her friend ...
0
votes
1answer
424 views
What is おやすみNASA胃？
I've seen this in several places. Is that a set phrase? What does that mean?
I know that it's a way of saying "Goodnight," but the NASA胃 doesn't make sense.
8
votes
1answer
197 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 ...
6
votes
1answer
109 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 ...
3
votes
2answers
271 views
Is there a Japanese phrase equivalent to “crisis of faith”
I am wondering if there is a way to describe this concept in Japanese, or an equivalent phrase.
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_of_faith it is a mostly western concept (if you ...
4
votes
1answer
136 views
When to use にしたら when to use には?
I don't get the difference in meaning between には and にしたら like in this sentence from my textbook:
大きすぎる親の期待は、子供にしたら苦痛だ。
Expectations of parents that are too big become agony for the children.
...
0
votes
1answer
100 views
What is the meaning of ように here?
Can someone tell me what ように means in this phrase?
あの人にそんな秘密があるようには全く見えないがな。
4
votes
2answers
152 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
102 views
what does “媒介にして” mean ?
when i was reading Rosario+vampire s2 manga i read this sentence
''血液を媒介にしてのみ真祖は継承されるの”
血液＝blood
媒介＝Intermediary
のみ＝Only
真祖＝term in the manga indicates vampires ancestors
継承＝Inheritance
then ...
2
votes
2answers
208 views
忙しさもひと休みといったところだ。 [closed]
I found this sentence: 忙しさもひと休みといったところだ。
And I cannot make it out anyhow.
Can anybody make it clear to me please?
1
vote
1answer
170 views
What is the difference between the two kanji pairings for 'jellyfish'?
I am aware that animal names are generally written in katakana (although sometimes hiragana), but kanji is sometimes used. I stumbled upon the Japanese word クラゲ, meaning jellyfish. The dictionary said ...
4
votes
1answer
200 views
What's the difference between 招待, 招く and 誘う?
I've stumbled upon these 3 words. I think meaning of 招待 is:
invite (as in a formal invitation)
The other two seem rather confusing to me, though.
1
vote
1answer
134 views
What あらそう does mean?
I would like to know if someone can help me with the word あらそう. Dictionaries online translate it like "to compete" or "to oppose", but in the context of the whole sentence, this definition makes no ...
13
votes
1answer
259 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?
4
votes
1answer
149 views
What does 腕が光る mean?
I've tried Googling for Japanese/Japanese dictionary definitions of this phrase, but can only find usages so far, which haven't helped.
More context:
"俺たち職人の腕が光る"
I think from context that the ...
