Questions tagged [definitions]
定義. The precise meanings of Japanese words or phrases.
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What does the word ゆける signify?
I have the sentence:
この国に生まれ老い、良かったと死んでゆける高齢化社会。
This is the first time I've seen 「死んでゆける」 or 「ゆける」. What does it mean? Is this a grammatical form? I also tried looking up more examples with 「ゆける」...
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what does 自己PR mean？
I keep coming across this word often 「自己PR」when looking at applications. I'm not sure what the "PR" part means in Japanese, but in English it usually means "public relations". What does this word mean,...
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What's the difference between 今日{きょう} and 本日{ほんじつ}?
I also see both in different examples.
As in :
今日は暑い。
本日はおめでとうございます。
Both are translated as "Today", but when and how should I use either one?
Can we say : 本日はあつい。 And 今日はおめでとうございます。?
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What does ぐぎぎmean?
I'm totally puzzled as to what this means, and I couldn't find any helpful hints when I searched through multiple websites. Does anyone else have a clue?
user1424
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Is there a difference between these words for “hero”?
I've learned that hero could be translated as:
ヒーロー
えいゆう
ゆうしゃ
けっし
Aside from ヒーロー (which seems just to be roumaji version of hero), is there any usage difference among them?
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Does the kanji 妾 still get used by women to refer to themselves?
In this answer, the kanji 妾 was defined as "mistress".
I'm not so familiar with this kanji, so I looked it up, and it seems to have about four readings and two definitions. Although I think some of ...
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What is the difference between キャリアウーマン, OL, and ビジネスウーマン?
When I come across the titles キャリアウーマン, OL, and ビジネスウーマン, I seem to have a difficult time picturing what their position is or what they do. I'm wondering if anyone can elaborate on how they are ...
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Which つける do I use?
So I looked up つける and saw it can be written as:
付ける
着ける
附ける
And they all seem to have the exact same definition: to attach, to join, to add, to append, etc. So are these "spellings" ...
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Is "かいしゅん" a valid reading for 買春?
I have seen the words 売春 and 買春 pronounced "ばいしゅん". From my understanding 売春 is taken from the perspective of the "seller" whereas 買春 is taken from the perspective of the "buyer". However, when I ...
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Does ごめん really mean sorry?
Normally ごめんなさい is translated as sorry or excuse me, but that seems like a translation for non-native speakers. In the same way, しつれいします can also be translated as excuse me or pardon me. But it really ...
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What does ただいま actually mean?
I was wondering what the literal translation really means. I've seen it translated as I'm home but I've also seen it in a few situations where the person wasn't arriving home.
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Ancient practise of sneaking into women's bedrooms...?
I was looking up the meaning of スマ婚{こん}, when my mouse happened to roll over the kanji 婚{こん}, and this definition popped up in Rikaichan:
婚 よばい ancient practice of creeping at night into a woman's ...
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混信 and 干渉 difference in terms of communications and computing?
I read an article that had the sentence
1.9GHz帯を使うため、ZigBeeやWi-Fiで使われている2.4GHz帯の機器と干渉しないことが特徴。
I previously learned that 混信 means "interference" or "jamming". I saw this word used often. I'm ...
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Difference between 十分 and 十二分
Is there a clear difference between the meanings of 十分 and 十二分? I rarely have ever seen the second one. When should the second one be used and in what context?
EDIT: To avoid confusion, I'm talking ...
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difference between 連載 and 順次
I usually see the word 連載 pertaining to articles or books in a series. However, when I read 順次 I was confused (I saw this is a technical article). They seem to both hold the meaning "serial" or "...
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What exactly is ありき?
I think from looking up ありき that it means "based on", but it's usage is unclear to me.
I've come across it in these two examples:
まずは結論{けつろん}ありき
Which I think means "the conclusion is based on ...
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How can you figure out whether 鍵【かぎ】 means "lock" or "key"?
Recently, I forgot whether 鍵【かぎ】 meant lock or key, so I looked it up quickly on my phone's dictionary... And then I found out that it actually means both.
What are the best ways to figure out if ...
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Is 東西二つ idiomatic?
I came across this sentence about a traditional festival in Japan:
阿月の神明祭は、阿月地区を東西二つに分けて行われる災厄除けや病気除け、豊作を祈願して行われる。
(link)
The general meaning is clear, but what I don't fully understand is this ...
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What's the difference between 世間{せけん} and 世界{せかい}?
Both 世間{せけん} and 世界{せかい} seem to mean "world" in the sense of "a sphere of human activity or interest", or "a particular way of life", and that sort of thing. (As opposed to 地球{ちきゅう}, the literal ...
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What's the difference between 理系{りけい} , 理科{りか}, and 科学{かがく}?
In my dictionary, 理系{りけい}, 理科{りか}, and 科学{かがく} are defined simply as "science".
What, if anything, differentiates them?
Especially in terms of the feeling or nuance when used in everyday ...
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2
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How do I differentiate all these terms for "illiterate"?
I looked up the word "illiteracy", and was offered many different possibilities. Here they are, with my personal take on the nuance behind their origins:
活字{かつじ}離{ばな}れ ("removed from printing"?)
...
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Want to be sure I understand the nuance of 払{はら}う
払{はら}う has a number of meanings, but to summarize, it means to chase away or brush off. I often see it used in combinations like 追{お}い[払]{はら}う, "to chase off", or "to drive away".
I recently came ...
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What is the nuance of 解{げ}す？
Today in my JLPT text book, I came across the word 解{げ}す.
I know that the kanji 解 means "unravel", and it can be read 解{わか}る, and with that reading it's synonymous with 分{わ}かる, "to understand".
When ...
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What does it mean to be "over a law"?
I was a little confused after reading this on Wikipedia article for 宇部港, a harbor in Ube, Yamaguchi:
港湾法{こうわんほう}上の重要港湾...に指定されている。
I'm really not used to reading very technical writing, so there ...
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What is koshinashi?
I can't find コシなし defined in any dictionary. It looks like it might have something to do with udon noodles.
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[潔]{いさぎよ}い meaning
Can anyone tell me more about 潔い? I've looked in Goo, Alc, Kenkyusha, and Edict, and the definitions refer to "sportsmanlike", "gracious", or "take it like a man". However, I'm doubtful if these are ...
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How do I read the kanji in this ad for mascara?
On the train yesterday, I came across this ad, which is just for some mascara or whatever:
Sorry it's a little blurry. The text is 凛{りん}と際立{きわだ}つ艶ロング。
I'm just a little unclear on a couple of things....
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Aren't がる and たがる the same thing?
In my JLPT practise book, it has two different entries, one to explain がる and one to explaining たがる. It offeres these example sentences to differentiate them:
うちの子{こ}は新{あたら}しいものを見{み}ると、すぐほしがる。
...
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Not understanding 解{と}く in this sentence
This sentence comes from my JLPT practise book in a section explaining the use of 解{と}く:
練習{れんしゅう}問題{もんだい}は答{こた}えを見{み}ないで、自分{じぶん}で解{と}いてください。
I get that 解{と}く means to "unravel" or "solve", but ...
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How would you define っプル?
I have a fuzzy understanding that っぷる is something like っぽい (-ish) or っぷり (manner, style). Could you offer a more clear definition?
For example someone eating salad for dinner says:
貧乏っプルじゃないよ。...
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Does タメ語{ご} mean "casual speech"?
A debate came up on the use of タメ語{ご} in this question, and I thought it was worth its own analysis.
The question is, does タメ語 simply mean "casual speech", or does it mean "speech between equals". Or ...
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のか - Particle "lamenting reflections on the preceding statement". What?
I've come across this sentence in my manga.
そ そうか そういう疑いを持っているのか
It's actually fairly easy, but the particle at the end has confused me. I thought it was the two particles の and か, but then I saw ...
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Fun with synonyms - "eternity"
What are the differences among the following two-kanji words that seem to mean "eternity":
永遠 {えいえん}
永久 {とわ}
永世 {えいせい}
永代 {えいたい}
永劫 {えいごう}
永永 {えいえい}
久遠 {きゅうえん}
悠久 {ゆうきゅう}
恒久 {こうきゅう}
恒常 {こうじょう}
長久 {...
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Does ところ mean the exact same thing as こと in this sentence?
Consider the following sentence:
お金じゃないところが好きだから一緒にいるの
【おかね じゃない ところが すき だから いっしょに いるの】
I think it means "I'm with you because of the parts of you that don't have to do with money".
I'm ...
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I can't stand 立つ【た・つ】: Do all its meanings derive from "stand"?
I have an issue with the word 立{た}つ, which is that I get it's basic meaning is "to stand", but I see it used in all sorts of ways that don't make sense to me.
Here are some examples, from various ...
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Does 「えらい 」also mean "terrible"?
For over a decade of speaking (poorly) and listening to Japanese, it seems to me that I have almost exclusively heard the word えらい in the sense of meaning "admirable".
For example, I'd mention ...
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Does 髭 refer to the beard or the moustache?
My dictionary lists 髭 as moustache / beard, but from the example sentences in WWWJDIC, it seems like 髭 is more often used to mean "beard" than "moustache" ?
So for example, in this sentence: ...
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What is the exact definition of 泥棒?
In English:
a burglar is usually associated with someone who breaks into a house (victim is usually unaware during the burglary)
a robber is usually associated with that person who uses weapons and ...
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What is おもぴろかった
Saw this on twitter:
@Daigo19780408 昨日はお疲れ様でした！おもぴろかったです♪( ´▽｀)
What does おもぴろかった mean? I find words like this all over the place on the net, but I can't figure out what it means, and I can't find ...
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Does なかなか (with negative verb) mean "by no means" or "considerably"?
WWWJDIC defines なかなか (with negative verb) as by no means
But shouldn't it have been considerably ?
By no means means 100% not
considerably means like 85% not
So does なかなか (with negative verb) ...
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What is a シドギャ? ギャ doesn't mean girl, does it?
At first I thought ギャ meant girl, but after doing some googling, that doesn't appear to be what it is. What is シドギャ?
シドギャ is related to the band シド, the most popular Visual Kei rock band in Japan for ...
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Fun with synonyms - “flattery"
What are the differences in the following words meaning flattery / to flatter:
お世{せ}辞{じ}
追{つい}従{しょう}
おべっか
胡{ご}麻{ま}をする
阿{おもね}る
諂{へつら}う
煽{おだ}て（る）
美{び}辞{じ}麗{れい}句{く}
Which ones are honest, sincere ...
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How do I know when to read the kanji 抱 as 「だ・く」, and when to read it as 「いだ・く」, or even 「うだ・く」?
This sentence was in a grammar textbook:
彼{かれ}は同僚{どうりょう}にライバル意識{いしき}、ひいては殺意{さつい}すら抱いていた
... it means:
"He regarded his colleague as a rival, even to the point of
considering murder."
My ...
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Definition of ブラコン when discussing musical preferences
A Japanese person told me that they have ブラコン。I looked it up on Wikipedia and it said something like an emotional attachment to one's brother. But they said that it meant something like someone who ...
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Why is this 理由 【りゆう】 given the furigana わけ?
It might be hard to read because of the image resolution, but on the cover of this book, on the bottom left side, it says:
へんな日本語にも理由がある。
Which means something like:
"Even strange Japanese has ...
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2
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What does ちょちょい mean?
I can't find this defined anywhere.
Here's an example:
タオルケットをちょちょいかけにきてくれる。
I am also interested in what this whole sentence says.
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What is the origin of, and how do I parse 絶対{ぜったい}領域{りょういき}?
絶対{ぜったい}領域{りょういき} is a slang term that refers to the visible bare skin from the bottom of a woman's skirt to the top of her thigh high stockings. Or, short pants and thigh high boots... pick your ...
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Can "みたい" mean "want to see"?
Can "みたい" mean "want to see", or does it always mean "looks like"/"seems like"? If not, how would "want to see" be expressed?
Specifically, assuming it has both uses, it would seem ambiguous to me ...
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