Hot answers tagged set-phrases
9
Tsuyoshi Ito already touches on the answer. Basically, 目 is used in a lot of expressions talking about your capability see something for its true self (見極める力). It can be seen in phrases and words like:
抜け目がない、目がきく、見識、目角が強い, etc.
So, 目がない literally means you lack the "eyes" to see through things or see something for its true self. Which in turn became to ...
8
I normally say 気をつけて when I part from someone going/traveling somewhere or going home, お大事に to someone sick/ill/injured etc., and お元気で when I part from someone who's older/superior to me, like my senpai, teacher, professor, boss... お元気でsounds more polite than 元気でね so I'd say 元気でね to my friends/coworkers/family/relatives.
8
気をつけて: "take care", "be careful" (is more generic than the other ones, for example it can be used in 足元に気をつけて "watch your step")
お大事に: "get well soon" (often said to people recovering from illness etc, literally something like "treat (yourself) with value/respect/care")
お元気で: "be well/healthy", "all the best", "take care of yourself"
7
For example, the most natural way of translating this expression
One day Jennifer tidied up her son's bedroom. Little did she know her son would be so mad when he found that out.
can be rephrased simply as follows:
One day Jennifer tidied up her son's bedroom. She did not know her son would be so mad when he found that out.
Basically it is ...
7
To understand what this expression means, picture a father and a son. The father is a craftsman, who spends most of his time awake at work. He's not very eloquent, and while he cares about the son, he won't really say much. The son goes through the usual juvenile process, struggling with the meaning of his life, not ready to accept the simple life of his ...
6
Which kanji should we use for the phrase 興味がわく
湧く. You should be able to verify this in a dictionary, such as here, #4.
What is the difference in nuance and usage between 興味が湧く and 興味が沸く?
One is spelled correctly while the other is not.
4
I was wondering if this is just a literal translation of the English phrase?
If the Wikipedia entry for "bed of roses" was correct in stating that this phrase was coined by the English dramatist Christopher Marlowe, I assume it would have had to originate from English. If I am reading between the lines of your question correctly, I do not believe ...
4
Goo lists this や as being a 強意の間投助詞, i.e. an interjectory particle used for emphasis.
That would be definition 4-2 here, where it also mentions またもや
I don't think this や is really productive anymore, so I would memorize 今や as a word/an expression by itself.
4
Unless this is a set phrase, I think we need more context to go on--who said the quote, what was the line before and after, etc.
I don't see the provided translation matching up though.
Here is my attempt:
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。
All that hard work for nothing, you know...that's how I feel.
Here is how I break it down:
その頑張りは、/ すべてむだ / ...
4
I'm not sure about hard and fast rules, but here's what I think:
I think 心 is used when it is a natural flow, and does not involve too much deliberation and exertion of strong will. 意 involves intention and volition. 念 gives me the impression that an idea has been persisting in the person's mind and he is considering it.
The short version:
心 - The ...
3
There was a news segment on public hospitals a few months ago focusing on a doctor from [柏原]{かいばら} hospital in Hyogo prefecture (Western Japan). Here is an article covering what happened (Japanese). The prefecture kept closing down the hospitals and consolidating them due to a shortage of doctors, and he was the only pediatrician for several hospitals in the ...
3
Yes, a sarcastic use of this phrase is certainly possible (isn't it the case with almost any phrases?), but it won't have the opposite effect.
One sarcastic use of this phrase that I can think of is:
someone makes a nasty remark about you
you say お礼を言わせてもらう because it reminds you why you hated him
In other words, when anger works as a motivation. It's ...
3
Well, your question is very good and the answer is NO! You cannot use all three forms interchangeably because they have different meanings. I am sorry I do not know the third form in your question, and although I spoke a lot of Japanese, I never encountered a situation where such an expression was necessary (but this is my experience).
That being said, I ...
3
コミュニケーションがとれる = to be able to communicate.
コミュニケーションをとる = to communicate.
In my experience, it is used a lot to speak about communication skills. So it's more than just being able to be heard and to hear.
You could say
そのチームはコミュニケーションがとれている。
about a team where all members speak a lot to each others.
3
和製英語 means “a Japanese word which looks like a loanword from English but is actually made up in Japan,” and I think that you are looking for a word or a phrase which means “an English word which looks like a loanword from Japanese but is actually made up in the English-speaking community.” I do not think that there is a term which concisely describes this ...
3
About 「根も葉もない」, only 「根」 and 「ない」 are important to form the meaning, 「葉」 is added as a way of humor.
「火種」 may be referring to another idiom about rumors, 「火のないところに煙は立たぬ」 which means "if there is no fire , there is no smoke (rumor) rising." Addition of 「火種」 works as an enhancement for 「根も葉もない」. 「根も葉も火種も」 is not a common idiom. It seems the song writer ...
2
At the coffee shop after practice, 行こうか is a perfectly good sentence if the highest ranking person says it. Everyone will get up and leave. In other situations, do you want to go home is very different from do you want to go home with me. Japanese can drop the you, but still needs the 一緒 (but not the me/us/them). I remember hearing a lot of 一緒に without names ...
2
Does the person describing another's habits uses らしい as well?
Isn't it something like this
A: BhlaBhlaらしいな
B: らしいと言えばらしいな
In this case, B is just nodding to a point he did not picture before. "I can picture it now that you said it.". The same as そう言えばそうかもな。
らしいな alone would mean "Yes, you are right." without the previous nuance I mentioned.
2
If this is just a literal use of the English phrase, would a typical native Japanese speaker know what it means, where it came from, etc.?
Yes, it is a literal use of the English phrase. A typical native Japanese speaker will not understand it unless they know the English phrase.
Also, while I'm asking, is this something that Murakami does often? ...
2
Well, yes, that would be 英製和語.
In written form, it should be understandable. However, if you said this in a conversation, somebody might not understand you, so perhaps the following would be better:
英語になった日本語
日本語から英語に入った借用語 // From the wikipedia article
Although, I don't think there is a general term since this phenomenon would only be well understood by ...
2
①カレと[別]{わか}れてから、[妊娠]{にんしん}が[発覚]{はっかく}した。
②カレと[別]{わか}れた[後]{あと}で、[妊娠]{にんしん}が[発覚]{はっかく}した。
③カレと[別]{わか}れた[後]{のち}に、[妊娠]{にんしん}が[発覚]{はっかく}した。
All of these sentences make sense and are grammatical, and they mean the same thing.
(I think ③ is also read as 「～あとに～」.)
「[後]{のち}に」sounds literary, so we rather use 「てから」/「[後]{あと}で」in daily conversation.
...
2
This is a common pattern that means "even if I wanted to V, I cannot V" or "no matter what, I cannot V". As such, in your sentence, it means " I could not get mad even if I wanted to.".
As for the grammar, this is a conjunctive particle (接続助詞). Rather than attaching to the "dictionary form" (終止形), though, it attaches to the attributive (連体形). That is why ...
2
Yes, absolutely! One year in Japan and during that time I heard them using these kinds of sentence all the time. So, yes, it is a common issue.
I will provide a broader view for your question. You are actually asking about the following pattern:
(Noun)のほう(...)
Whose meaning is the one of pointing out something whenever two options are considered.
...
1
Like you say, かと言って is just か＋と＋言って.
か makes it into a question
と is the quoting particle
言って is "say/called"
It can appear without any ambiguity in the middle of a sentence
家まで送ろうかと言ってくれた。
He offered to bring me home.
When it is used as a conjunction at the beginning at a sentence it works like というか, なので, だから, etc., which apply to the whole ...
1
Strange enough, in the case of the question thru your link here, it seems that:
「誰々と一緒に」is basically equal to 'with someone', but
「誰々とともに」sounds a bit like 'someone followed me'.
In most of the cases they have zero differences. But sometimes we use 「誰々と共に」when we talk in a literary way, like「共に走ろう」.
1
For ものがある:
(plain form verb/i adjective/na adjective+な)+ものがある (Kanji 物がある, but I think it's usually written in Hiragana), can mean:
とても〜だ
なんとなく〜感じる
〜という感じがある
〜ように感じられる
and is used in regards with things the speaker felt, for expressing feelings while describing the characteristics of something, or that a certain characteristic can be ...
1
I will just add some information on this phrase, as I think the other answers are adequate for your question.
のほう。。。is also used just to express preference or likes, without much of an emphasis on comparative meaning.
See for example, at 0:38 of this video, how this girl answers a question on where she lives:
...
1
I have often used [洋製日本語]{ようせいにほんご} as an opposite of 和製英語. During a Japanese class during my study abroad program my professor was giving us a list of 和製英語. I asked her if she knew of any 洋製日本語, and she responded that the only one she could think of was "futon".
Here is another example of the term being used. It lists Japanese words that have become part ...
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