Hot answers tagged usage
14
You are right that ◯ is used here to mask a letter.
There are several related but different reasons as to why one would do this. The comment section already refers to one such use, where certain words are deemed inappropriate (especially on broadcasting), the equivalent of f*ck. But I don't think that explains this one.
In this case, I think the intention ...
13
You can use なる (to become) to indicate change, as follows:
うまくなる (い-adjective, い->く)
上手になる (な-adjective + に)
These both mean "to become good/skilled".
Then for "to become more skilled" you can use もっと, さらに or 前より:
もっと上手になる to become better
さらに上手になる to become even better
前より上手になる to become better than before
13
Basically it depends on how the speaker feels. However, I think we usually say:
死体があります。
ロボットがいます。 if it looks like it has a mind of its own.
ロボットがあります。 if it is an industrial robot without a mind.
車がいます。 if it is being driven by a human.
車があります。 when we talk about cars in general.
人工知能（AI）があります。 if it doesn't have anything visual, auditory or physical.
...
11
Both parties can use 失礼します at the end of a phone call, and in fact it is usual that both parties say 失礼します in turn. I think that a phone call is considered to be similar to a conversation between two people who met on the street in this regard. After such a conversation, both parties leave the place, so both say 失礼します. Similarly, after a phone call, both ...
11
１日おきに = ２日ごとに (every other day, every second day)
●○●○●○●...
２日おきに = ３日ごとに (every three days, every third day)
●○○●○○●○○●...
ごとに(毎に) http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%94%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AB
おきに(置きに) http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/2%E6%97%A5%E7%BD%AE%E3%81%8D%E3%81%AB
おき(置き) came from the verb 置く(leave). I think it's like "an interval (between the ...
10
This is the excerpt I found here:
The symbol ※, called 米印（こめじるし）, literally "rice symbol," is used in Japanese texts to introduce comments and remarks. Unlike the asterisk (*) in English, ※ is usually not used to link an item in the body of the text to a footnote. Rather, the purpose of ※ is to draw the reader's attention to an instruction or precaution ...
10
The やき of やきもち can be written in two ways, 焼く and 妬く.
Assuming you know the former(焼く), 妬く can mean to be jealous. So, the word is a play on words that have the same sound. The もち part, meaning rice cake (餅) is said to come from 気持ち, in other words やきもち originated from the phrase 妬く気持ち (whether もち actually originated from 気持ち or not is unclear though).
...
10
No, it's not really used in everyday speech. "Everyday writing" is a little ambiguous because it's mostly the form of the writing that determines the tone. To address your edit, it would be weird to use まい in a message to your friend, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it in work correspondence if only because that tends to be more formal in general. The ...
9
Short answer: Both readings have the same meaning. Whether you consider かいしゅん as a valid reading of 買春 or not depends on what you count as “valid.”
Some Sino-Japanese words have not only an on reading which is shown in dictionaries as the primary reading but also an alternative reading which avoids ambiguity with some other words. 買春 is such a word. ...
9
The ただいま that you say when you arrive home is a contraction of ただ今帰りました. (ただ=たったjust / 今=now / 帰りました=(I) came back/came home /returned)
I think one other situation you're talking about might be where you say 'ただいま', 'Certainly, sir'/'Yes sir, I'll do that right away'/'Yes, I'll be right with you' etc., when someone tells you to do something or calls you, ...
9
As a generic you can't go wrong with こんにちは. For example on Facebook or twitter I see posts by companies often that start with こんにちは. It depends on the context, of course, so if there's a situation where time of day is just understood then you can use that greeting. Or you can give a twist to it and start with ハロー！
9
Greetings on the internet are largely the same as those that would be done on the phone or in person.
こんにちは with be fine for a friend etc
お疲れ様です would be fine for a work colleage
はじめまして for someone you are meeting of the first time.
うっす is even acceptable for very casual situations.
9
Yes, [一分間]{いっぷんかん}, [一ヶ月間]{いっかげつかん} and [一年間]{いちねんかん} exist, but the [間]{かん} in them is not the same as in [一時間]{いちじかん} and [一週間]{いっしゅうかん}.
The 間 in 一時間 and 一週間 is a part of the counter words for "hour" and "week", but the counter words for "minute", "month" and "year" are 分, ヶ月 and 年 (not 分間, ヵ月間, 年間), and the 間 in 一分間, 一ヶ月間 and 一年間 is more like "for~~" or ...
9
I applaud your courage to try something new and more sophisticated, when you can so easily use some safe & mandane expressions like お久しぶり!
Unfortunately, things like this entirely depend on the context and what your perceived character is to the other person, for there's always some context in which almost any expression is appropriate.
For example, if ...
8
~ませ is the imperative form of the polite auxiliary verb ~ます which connects to the conjunctive form of verbs. According to Daijirin it's used with the verbs いらっしゃる, おっしゃる, くださる, なさる, 申す and 召す etc (I've only seen いらっしゃいませ, くださいませ and なさいませ used myself though, so I'm not sure how common the other ones are).
It's used in modern Japanese, and I think it's ...
8
Perhaps this site may be of use to you.
For each section there is a brief description and explanation of the choice of symbols/characters used.
The characters used for kaomoji may represent:
Eyes (usually obvious)(may be covered by arms/hand)
Ears (may be absent)
Nose (may be absent)
Mouth ( ∀ and ▽ in your examples are mouths)
Limits of the face ...
8
(Figured I should write more than two words for an answer).
What you are hearing is probably 平気{へいき}. I'd say it's more 'okay' as in calm, collected, emotionally unaffected by something than in the physical sense.
平気なふりをする
Pretend to be okay. (put on a brave face, stiff upper lip, etc)
It is sometimes used in a negative sense to refer to having no ...
8
This is another one of those situations where depending on a simple English translation will cause you to lose a lot of important details.
If you look at the kanji the difference is pretty clear. 餌食 combines 餌{えさ} and 食 of 食べ物. 餌 means animal feed, and 食 is of course eat, so 餌食 becomes prey in the sense of something that an animal eats for its food, like a ...
8
Originally there was only imada. It is a compound of the noun ima (今) and the stem of the particle dani, da. It has two primary meanings: 1) not yet 2) still. When used in the positive sense 2), it emphasizes a continuation from the past.
mada is a contraction from imada. It is much more colloquial than the former. While they both share these two meanings, ...
7
やつ is used as a head noun modified by a relative clause or an appositive clause. My guess is that it can be used only when the referent is what is technically called d(iscourse)-linked, or the set of possible choices is (assumed to be) established within the context. The interest is setting the choice from a given set rather than introducing a new entity to ...
7
Simply translate them carefully.
多分、いいペットでしょうね.
'Probably, they are good pets'.
多分、いいペットになるでしょうね.
'Probably, they will become good pets'.
Don't you think the second one is closer to the meaning you wanted?
If you want to emphasize it is an assumption, you can say
いいペットになりそうですね.
7
囲み文字 are derived from Edo period corporate logos called 表号 which were one of the standard ways of naming or identifying a shop (屋号). You may see in the countryside some companies identify themselves with logos that look like hats or carpenter's squares. There is a good survey of traditional logos from one town here:
http://www.kokuhei.com/sa-ken/hyogo.htm
...
7
The nuances are pretty much aligned with the English equivalents
When I was 18, ...
When I was 18 years old, ...
Appending 歳 is more complete and would be favoured in formal situations (e.g. as part of 丁寧語).
Bonus question: 20のとき sounds childish (albeit you being clearly over 20), like [5日]{ごにち} instead of いつか, so はたちの時 escapes the simplification ...
7
創始者 is a founder in intellectual terms, e.g.
密教の創始者は空海です。
創業者 is the founder of a store or shop (related to work, rather than business), e.g.
僕のおじいさんがこの魚屋の創業者なんだよ。
創設者 is the founder of a business/company, e.g.
ソニー株式会社の創設者は盛田昭夫と井深大です。
創立者 is the founder of a building/place (but could also be used for businesses, which would give it the ...
7
From the excellent A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Vmasu+方 means either "way" or "manner". Thus 飲み方が大事です means either "The way of drinking is important" or "The manner in which one drinks is important" so you have to provide additional context. To put into context:
この[薬]{くすり}は[飲]{の}み[方]{かた}が[大事]{だいじ}。[必]{かなら}ず[食前]{しょくぜん}に[飲]{の}んでください。[It is ...
7
This is not an answer but a collection of comments based on my personal feeling, but I post it as an answer because it is too long for a comment.
First, here are two clear facts:
のある simply does not have the same meaning as である. ピアニストのある私の姉 is incorrect.
Replacing AであるB with AのB sometimes causes ambiguity. For example, ピアニストの姉 can mean either “(my) ...
7
I think the difference between 降参する and 諦める is the difference between "to surrender" and "to give up".
Giving up is more an emotional state of not having any hope left. Surrendering means that you "put down your arms", officially, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have given up hope.
In that sense, 降参する makes more sense in a formal context of two ...
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
様 is more respectful than 殿. The reason Ammy gets it wrong is because 殿 used to be more respectful in the past, but it has changed overtime and 様 has become more respectful. Nowadays, 殿 is used as a fixed expression in some circles. Many companies use it in their e-mails when referring to a coworker, but I would use 様 instead if I were referring to someone ...
6
たりして is used to posit some event as a possibility but something you are not sure about. For example, about the future:
10年後に大金持ちになっていたりして。
From the nature of this expression meaning "not being sure", it is also used as a hedge when you want to be modest and a bit comical:
ひょっとして、さっきのことでまだ怒ってたりして。
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