Questions tagged [translation]
翻訳. This site does not provide a translation service. However, questions about translation are welcome provided that they have some academic merit. For example, questions about translating uncommon words, phrases that have different meanings in different contexts, and other non-trivial topics.
3,828
questions
51
votes
4
answers
76k
views
What do the shapes △ ◯ ╳ ◻ mean in Japanese? And are there variations in meaning, depending on whether or not the shape is filled?
I am interested in Japanese culture and the symbolism used in Japan, specifically I'd like to know what the △ triangle, ◯ circle, ╳ cross and ◻ square mean to a Japanese person.
How are those shapes ...
- 627
35
votes
4
answers
19k
views
How to say f*** yeah in Japanese
I often get asked about swear words by Japanese people. As I sometimes watch Netflix, I can see how other translators approach these phrases and get helpful hints.
Specifically, I'm curious about the ...
- 1,728
33
votes
3
answers
40k
views
The many ways to say "and" in Japanese
In English, we just have one word for the conjunction and which works just fine for many categories, but in Japanese, there are separate words:
と joins nouns together in a closed list
や joins nouns ...
- 15.3k
31
votes
7
answers
6k
views
How would one convey "get over it" in Japanese?
As a foreigner in Japan, one has to get used to the fact that some Japanese will compliment you on things that are too mundane to really deserve mention. Like the fact that you can use chopsticks, eat ...
- 24.7k
30
votes
5
answers
45k
views
Difference between そうです、 ようです and らしいです.
Here are the example sentences.
デイビットは料理が上手そうです。
デイビットは料理が上手なようです。
デイビットは料理が上手らしいです。
Firstly, what does デイビット mean as based on reading alone its sounds like 'debit' to me which is a strange name ...
- 1,491
28
votes
8
answers
11k
views
Does the Japanese language only have negative terms for flirting?
I am looking for terms in the Japanese language which can describe the act of flirting in a positive light. This probably requires inventing terms to close a lexical gap, because as far as I know, all ...
- 24.7k
28
votes
2
answers
61k
views
What does さあ (saa) mean?
I have seen this term used a lot in many different ways.
「さあ、忘れましょうその未来が」 saa, wasuremashou sono mirai ga — in this sense, I assume it means "come".
But I have also seen it used as
「でもさあ」 demo saa — ...
- 451
27
votes
4
answers
6k
views
What does the final て in 待ってて signify?
In this scene a young girl, Yotsuba, drops in on her neighbors for some breakfast. The mother who's cooking breakfast says:
「今お父さんの焼いてるからその次ねー。ちょっと待っててー。」
So I guess she's preparing her husbands ...
- 5,295
23
votes
4
answers
5k
views
Is there an easily accessible list of terms in the Japanese grammar written both in Japanese and English?
I am a native Japanese speaker with a casual interest in languages. I sometimes have trouble explaining the Japanese grammar in English because I do not know the established English translation of ...
- 28.7k
22
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Is [mathematical] 'analysis' in Japanese the same word as 'fine cuisine' in Japanese?
According to the Fields medal winner Cédric Villani, in the Japanese language the word 'analysis' is (I quote) "the same word" as the word for 'fine cuisine'.
Such can be seen in a video of a ...
- 335
21
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Can someone identify this stamp in a Bible that allowed my roommate's Grandpa to keep it in a POW camp in WW2?
Can someone identify this stamp in a Bible that allowed my roommate's Grandpa to keep it in a POW camp in WW2?
Normally Bibles would have been forbidden but apparently this stamp that was inspected ...
- 321
21
votes
2
answers
17k
views
What is 〜からです and when is it used? How does it differ from 〜ですから and 〜んです?
I have seen this expression a few times, and have never quite understood it. In particular, it seems to be equatable both to ですから and to んです, but I can't figure out where it would be used over either ...
- 4,327
21
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What's bugging the Japanese language?
In my JLPT workbook, it has a section which gives a list of idioms that use [虫]{むし}.
仕事{しごと}の虫 (worker bee)
点取{てんとり}虫 (derogatory term for a student who tries too hard)
虫がいい (selfish)
...
- 24.7k
21
votes
4
answers
7k
views
When did you last...?
I am searching for a way to ask a question like "When did you last see her?" or "When did you last do the laundry?, or also "When did we last meet?" Basically, how do you construct a question with ...
- 1,236
20
votes
3
answers
27k
views
What does よろしくおねがいします mean when departing?
When on business in Japan last year, a Japanese colleague said よろしくおねがいします to me as the group were leaving after dinner.
I'm aware of its usage in initial greetings, as is usually taught in textbooks,...
- 1,516
19
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Should I use the formal form (~ます) on the buttons of an app?
I'm an iOS app developer who's learning Japanese. I want to localize my app to Japanese (make a Japanese version of it, basically). For context, my app falls into the "Utilities" category on the app ...
- 2,922
19
votes
1
answer
10k
views
How do I politely ask my boss for a moment of his time?
My boss is a native Japanese speaker.
In English, when I have a question or an issue to bring up, I can ask "Do you have a minute?" to see if it is an appropriate time to interrupt them. In Japanese,...
- 3,207
18
votes
1
answer
887
views
What does this ad say? (Connotations of ガキ大将)
This is a frequent problem that I think many Japanese learners experience. You look at some Japanese sentences, and you understand the words, and most, if not all, the grammar, and yet still, it just ...
- 24.7k
18
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Is Saturday considered a weekday or weekend, or something else?
I'm confused about this sign. It states working hours. The first part is easy: weekdays is 9:30 to 20:00. The second part is strange. Instead of saying 週末・祭日 (weekends and holidays), it says "...
- 353
18
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is it true that the meaning of あ可よろし is unknown?
One of the cards in a Hanafuda deck looks like this:
The character that looks like の is actually , a hentaigana for ka derived from the kanji 可. The card says あかよろし, not あのよろし.
According to ...
- 141
18
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How to translate historical names which don't necessarily have an equivalent in Japanese?
What is the acceptable procedure for writing proper names in Japanese academic papers when you don't know the official Japanese translation or the katakana for it?
Is there an expectation that all ...
- 2,153
17
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Meaning behind adding 'め' after someone's name?
I've come across this once or twice where people will say someone's name and then add 'め' in an irritable/victorious tone [e.g: ヒカルめ, マコトめ, etc.], but I've yet to find a textbook example explaining ...
user7541
17
votes
2
answers
14k
views
What is the meaning and usage of ネタ?
For example in this phrase:
話すネタはもっていそう
I translate it into "he might have some stories", but I have the impression it has many other meanings.
- 2,824
17
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Blue blistering barnacles, what is Captain Haddock saying?
For those who might not be familiar with the series Tintin (soon to be in a major motion picture, by the way), there is a character named Captain Haddock who is famous for shouting out colourful ...
- 24.7k
17
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Meaning of ところ in アメリカのいいところ
I feel as though I understand what the below sentence means, but what I think it means makes no sense.
日本に行ったら、アメリカのいいところも発見できるかもしれないですね。
My translation: If you go to Japan, you might be able to ...
- 433
17
votes
1
answer
4k
views
ち suffix I've never heard of before
Ok, so I've been reading よつばと recently, and I've been seeing a suffix coming up that I cannot seem to find a meaning for. It's not in any dictionary, and I'm not sure if it's a name suffix, or some ...
- 741
17
votes
2
answers
18k
views
How to say: "I am returning your call"
Title says it all!
If somebody called and left a message, when calling them back, is there a set expression for that?
I generally just use "さっきにお電話頂いた...", but wondering if there is a more idiomatic ...
- 9,039
17
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Difference between 書かないようになった and 書かなくなった?
Example sentences:
ぜんぜん長い手紙を書かないようになった。
ぜんぜん長い手紙を書かなくなった。
My Translation: I never write long letters anymore.
I believe they both mean the same thing but there's obviously some difference I don'...
- 1,491
17
votes
2
answers
892
views
An interesting postcard
According to my information, this postcard was sent from Japan to Russia, and probably in 1945.
Needs a translation badly and nobody has seemed to care since then. I suppose that the historical kana ...
- 587
16
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Asahi Dry Black beer can
What does ビアホール仕立ての黒 on Asahi Dry Black means?
Specifically 仕立て(sewing?) and ビアホール(via hole?). I tried searching it on japanese web, but it's kinda assumed as common knowledge and never mentioned ...
- 311
16
votes
2
answers
2k
views
"Should" in Japanese
The word "should" in English has these uses when not used as a question:
To express the expectation of the speaker (Probabilistic reasoning).
The train should arrive in 10 minutes.
To express a ...
Flaw♦
- 20k
16
votes
1
answer
4k
views
What do you mean, "In Japanese there are no words for "I’m suffering""?
Today I noticed this article about eating disorders in Japan, which I got to via the News on Japan site.
The first line jumps out at me. Supposedly, in an interview, a 25 year old Japanese woman ...
- 24.7k
16
votes
5
answers
4k
views
Understanding the usage of もう with present tense verbs
I think when a lot of people first learn もう it's as "already', right? There's also the meanings of "anymore", "soon", "now", "more', "another" and its use as an interjection. That's a lot of meaning ...
- 706
15
votes
9
answers
5k
views
What are other language equivalents to Japanese particles?
When a person is learning は and が in terms of particles, what are the best way to relate them to English equivalents?
The closest I can come to explaining them to others is "the" and "a" but I'm not ...
- 451
15
votes
5
answers
8k
views
My Japanese is rusty
While it sounds perfectly alright when said in English, as in "My English is rusty", is there an equivalent in Japanese language?
I have used this line before when I said "私の日本語は錆びている" and "...
- 193
15
votes
1
answer
4k
views
15
votes
4
answers
11k
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 ...
- 16.2k
15
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Japanese idiom equivalent to "take with a grain of salt"
Is there a Japanese idiom equivalent to "take with a grain of salt"?
In other words, an idiom which means "don't accept this information as completely true or the complete truth".
- 1,516
15
votes
2
answers
4k
views
What is the purpose of the suffix "さ" on adjectives?
What is the purpose of the suffix "さ" on adjectives like 美しさ and 多さ?
The former is the title of an essay by Banana Yoshimoto, so I don't have much context for it. The book editors translated it as "...
- 253
15
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What is the difference between 予想、期待、予期、思惑 for the meaning of "expectation"?
What is the difference between these 4 words for the definition of "expectation":
予想{よそう}
期待{きたい}
予期{よき}
思惑{おもわく}
Specifically, which would you use for "managing customer expectations (for project ...
- 7,021
15
votes
4
answers
3k
views
How are ambiguous "brother" and "sister" typically translated into Japanese?
Japanese has different words for "younger sibling" and "older sibling". Then how are the English words "brother" and "sister" (or any other European equivalents for that matter) typically translated ...
- 1,255
14
votes
6
answers
15k
views
What does イケメン mean?
I am in a Japanese 101 class. We are supposed to translate the following sentence:
日本ぶんかの先生は、イケメンですが、ぜんぜんやさしくないですから、あまり好きじゃありません。
I am having trouble with that word イケメン. So far, I have:
The ...
- 1,283
14
votes
1
answer
4k
views
What is the term for Japanese Language Stack Exchange in Japanese?
What is the Japanese Language Stack Exchange called in Japanese? I came up with 日本語のスタック交換.
- 6,727
14
votes
1
answer
7k
views
How is the "のです" working here?
目立つ事を恐れ、一緒でなければいけないという日本人が確実に減ってきているのです。
The strong feelings that Japanese have of being afraid of standing out and everybody having to do things together are starting to become less prominent.
To ...
- 10.4k
14
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Saying "to miss" ("I missed you over the weekend")
What's the best way to say "to miss" in the sense of feeling a longing for something, or that something pleasant is missing? I understand there's [懐]{なつ}かしむ, but it seems to me that, like 懐かしい, is ...
- 872
13
votes
3
answers
4k
views
No word for "time" until 1871?
In a German newspaper article an interviewed professor says:
For a long time the Japanese didn't have any interest in clocks: Until
1871, there hadn't even been a word for time and therefore no ...
- 407
13
votes
3
answers
9k
views
Native Japanese word for フリー
I wonder why all the translation engines show only the word フリー as a translation for the word "free". Why Japanese people had to borrow an english word? Wasn't there anything for free in Japanese ...
- 241
13
votes
6
answers
1k
views
Shouldn't this phrase using だけのこと mean "just for that"?
In a grammar textbook I have, there is this phrase:
幸{さいわ}い日本{にほん}で日本語{にほんご}を勉強{べんきょう}して、かなり話{はな}せるようになりました。日本{にほん}に行{い}っただけのことはありました。
The translation given is:
Fortunately, I studied Japanese ...
- 24.7k
13
votes
9
answers
2k
views
How to say "What's it to you?" in Japanese?
What would be appropriate expressions or idioms to convey the typical English response:
What's it to you?
(in a sense that goes somewhere between "None of your business" and "This is not your ...
- 9,039
13
votes
2
answers
4k
views
What do you call young animals in Japanese?
In English we have a lot of very specific words for many animals. Male foxes are known as reynards or tods, female foxes are known as vixens, and baby foxes are known as kits.
It's not an isolated ...
- 233