What does the word 「やそこら」mean?

Question

Here is a sentence said by a boy who talked to an officer.

はてね　脱走未遂の罪は　たしか二週間ほどぶちこまれっぱなしときいていたが　まだ　十日やそこらしかたっていねえじゃんか

My translation as following, please also help me correct it if I'm wrong.

Well, I committed a crime of planning to escape from (in this case, a reformed school) so I have to be punished by being left (in this case, a room of repentance) for 2 weeks for sure, but it has not passed 10 days as yet.

I'm not sure if it means "or so".

Answer 1

Yes, ～やそこら is a colloquial set phrase meaning "～ or so". This そこら is the same そこら in そこら辺. You can find many examples on BCCWJ Corpus.

This phrase tends to be used when the speaker thinks the number is small ("only around ～").

• 彼女は10歳やそこらの子供に見える。 (implying 10-years-old is very young)
• 500円やそこらの金で出来ることは限られている。 (implying 500 yen is small)

Your translation attempt is not literal, but you're on the right track.

Answer 2

まだ　十日 や そこら しか たっていねえじゃんか

接続詞「と」と「や」の違い http://wingtrans.blog98.fc2.com/blog-entry-240.html

A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar この文法書には「や」が次のように定義されています。

• 「や」“a coordinate conjunction that is used to list two or more items (nouns or noun phrases) in an inexhaustive fashion” (p.536)

そして「と」の定義は以下の通りです。

• 「と」“a particle which lists things exhaustively” (p.473)

上記の定義を比較すれば、両者の主な違いは直ぐに分かりますね。

----------------> inexhaustive vs. exhaustive

「や」is more inexact, informal.

I think ら in そこら is the same as in 我ら, われら 【我等】

I wouldn't be too surprised to find the expression [ ... days and thereabouts ] in Dickens and the like.

Found it. Ok, [or] is more inexact, informal.

Barnaby Rudge, by Charles Dickens

ocw.nust.na/gutenberg/9/1/917/917-h/files/relative.htm

...... His name was unknown, he had never been seen until within about eight days or thereabouts, and was equally a ...