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.
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How do I interpret 理不尽 in this situation?
I was talking with my colleagues about work and my friend described the following situation:
The boss asked my friend to make a report for a meeting that they had at the end of the day. He worked ...
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Is "bless" the best translation of 祝福{しゅくふく}?
As far as I understand it, 祝福{しゅくふく} means "bless". I came across it in this sentence, and it struck me as weird:
だれもが彼の成功をうらやむと同時に、心から祝福した。
My rough translation is, "At the same time that ...
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Is this a slang, and possibly derogatory term, for "lesbian"?
Warning: Potentially offensive terms.
I'm watching The Walking Dead on Hulu Japan with Japanese subtitles. I've noticed that the English dialogue and Japanese subtitles differ a lot. More than usual. ...
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Who is performing the actions in this sentence?
I have a question about the last sentence here taken from this essay:
やっぱり旅っていいな…としみじみ感じます。
'Then you will know the true joy of travelling.'
食事の後はちょっと外へ出てみましょう。
'After your meal, go ...
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How is "誰も" used in this sentence?
I am a bit confused about a sentence I came across in an anki deck:
誰もその話を知らない。
I know that that 誰 means "who" and も means "also", but the translation it gives me is:
"No one knows that story."
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Why does someone intend to die in this JLPT question?
This is a question in my JLPT practise book:
手遅{ておく}れかもしれないが、死{し}んだ＿＿になってやれば、間{ま}に合{あ}うかもしれない。
A もの B わけ C つもり D はず
None of the answers made sense to me, so I didn't even choose one.
The ...
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Understanding a JLPT practise question with ものなら
This sentence comes from a question in my JLPT practise book that is part of an explanation of the use of ものなら:
一度{いちど}仕事{しごと}を手伝{てつだ}おうものなら、それをいいことにあの人{ひと}は何度{なんど}でも頼{たの}んでくるから、気{き}をつけたほうがいい。
My ...
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Usage of the word 心配
Sorry if this is really simple and I'm overlooking the obvious, but I'm not sure how the following sentence should be translated as I've noticed on previous occasions that the word 「心配{しんぱい}」 might be ...
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Is this sentence making a comparison?
This sentence comes from my JLPT practise book:
宗教{しゅうきょう}とは何{なん}か、迷信{めいしん}とは何{なん}かを正確{せいかく}に定義{ていぎ}するのは困難{こんなん}だ。
I think it's basically saying:
Things like religions and supersitions are hard ...
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How do the two ideas in this sentence come together?
I have this sentence as part of a question in my JLPT practise book:
スリのグループがボスの合図{あいず}で乗客{じょうきゃく}から金{かね}を盗{ぬす}むのを目{ま}の当{あ}たりにして恐{おそ}ろしかった。
Part of the sentence means, "the pickpocket group steals ...
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What is the harshness of についてとやかく言う?
あなたの私生活についてとやかく言うつもりはありません。
I don't give a damn about your personal life.
I have also seen についてとやかく言う translated as "quibble over".
Could another translation of this sentence be:
...
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What is this English doing in the middle of my Japanese?
Note: I understand this question is on the edge of being off topic. I'll accept the community assessement if enough people feel that is the case.
I'm reading 脳{のう}は0.1秒{びょう}で恋{こい}をする by 茂木{もぎ}健一郎{...
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what does 可哀想{かわいそう}でならない mean?
I came across this expression in my JPLT N2 study materials.
I deciphered the parts as
可哀想{かわいそう} means pitiable, pathetic
でならない means can't help feeling
so does it mean "can't help feeling ...
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Usage of まるで with 見ているようだった.
その翼はとても滑らかに動くため、まるでコンピュータ・グラフィックスを見ているようだった。
Its wings were moving so smoothly that it almost looked like CGI.
or would a more accurate translation be:
Its wings were moving so smoothly that ...
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Does this athlete intend to play in the street or for the street?
In a bizarre and transparently ineffective attempt to try and change the culture of Shibuya's central shopping district, the shopowners promotion association (商店街{しょうてんがい}振興{しんこう}組合{くみあい}) has changed ...
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Help with adverbs with とする and としている
Taking yadokari's sentence:
彼女は表情が生き生きとしておりとてもかわいい。
The part that I need help understanding is the relation of 生き生きとして with 表情 and 居る.
Looking up the dictionary entry for 生き生き, it is "an adverb ...
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What's the literal and natural translation of たるもの?
子{こ}たる者{もの}すべからく親{おや}の命{めい}に従{したが}うべし。
Children should obey their parents
What I got from ALC is that a child isn't fit, unqualified, to be one's child if it disobeys its parents. Or is it just "...
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人生に生き甲斐を求めてギターを習い始めた。 Can 求める mean give?
人生に生き甲斐を求めてギターを習い始めた。
I started learning guitar to give myself something to do with my life.
Is this translation a little too loose?
Can 求める mean give?
Or would another way of translating this ...
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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,...
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Name/Title at the end of a sentence. Vocative case?
Consider these stanzas taken from the opening song of Aria the Animation: Undine.
Translations taken from this site
Background information:
An Undine as a mythical concept is a female water spirit ...
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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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How can I say "make a big deal [about/out of/of] X"?
See title. I'm looking for idiomatic ways to say something like this - over-emphasizing something, worrying about it overly much, etc.
Bonus points if a literal 大 (whether read as だい or おお) is ...
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What does 公け mean?
I am wondering what the reading and meaning of 公け is in the following sentence:
彼女のことが公けになることを好まず、ひそかに離縁しようと決心した。
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Expression equivalent to "as far/long/much as I/you X"
Is there an expression in Japanese that is equivalent to "as far/long as I/you X", for example "as far as I know", "as far as I'm concerned", "as much as you want", "as long as he is still alive" etc? ...
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Use of になります in the context of time
While attempting to translate the sentence "It will soon be two years since I started learning Japanese", I started wondering how になります works in the context of time. Ignoring any other translation ...
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What is a ダンディー? [closed]
I've encountered this word several times already but never really knew what it meant. Then I just saw this on twitter:
タモリさん、今日服装がダンディー。
What is a ダンディー? What kind of clothes does a ダンディー wear?
...
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What does 二周目 mean?
I find this all over the net, but can't find it defined anywhere.
I'm trying to understand this tweet:
じゃあ二周目は是非モノマネで♪( ´▽｀)RT @mimiroll_410: @mao_sid 今友達とカラオケに入ってるシドの曲を五十音順に全部制覇しようとしてます！(笑)...
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What is 漕ぎに来てくれるフラグ in English?
これは漕ぎに来てくれるフラグ?
I read that on twitter. This is the tweet, if it helps to make sense of it.
自信…なくないです( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ笑RT @yamadamic: あらマオにゃん!これは漕ぎに来てくれるフラグ?（笑） RT @mao_sid: 出勤時に聴いてましたよ（＾∇＾）RT @...
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What is なでしこ in なでしこJAPAN
I think this what the women's soccer team is called, but I'm not clear on it.
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Meaning of ぎゃほ ?
What does the interjection ぎゃほ mean?
Context:
A: We are mentioned in (famous newspaper)
B: ぎゃほ！ かんどう＝＝＝＝３３３
Does it have the meaning of かんどう ? Or is it surprise, or something else?
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What is カッコマン here?
最近の家電はブルーライト推しですな♪(´ε｀ )宇宙船ぽくてカッコマン(^-^)/
http://lockerz.com/s/121398862
What does カッコマン mean?
What does はブルーライト推し turn into in English?
What does that whole thing say?
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What is あーんしちゃろうか？
At the bottom of this picture it says あーんしちゃろうか？
http://ameblo.jp/maofish/entry-10957305590.html
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Who, or what, is Tsunku san? [closed]
Saw this on twitter.
つんくさん！いただきます！
http://lockerz.com/s/121213710
What does that mean?
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How to correctly understand a sentence that has に in it.
A few minutes ago after the World Cup ended, Shinji, guitarist of SID, tweeted this:
胸が熱くなりました…(^-^)/日本に勇気と希望をありがとう！
I'm having trouble understanding 日本に勇気と希望をありがとう！
Does it mean, "Thank you for ...
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What does たいがい mean here?
Another rock star tweet that I don't understand. Here the word たいがい confuses me.
いや、しん様には負けます( ；´Д｀)RT @shinji_sid: いやいやあなたもたいがい…RT @mao_sid: しん様(((o(ﾟ▽ﾟ)o)))今日もイケメンでした(((o(ﾟ▽ﾟ)o)))RT @shinji_sid: ♪(´...
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What's does 仮歌 mean here?
I'm having trouble understanding this rock star's tweet:
たまーに仮歌とか流れてくる笑RT @maoloveai: @mao_sid シド率はどのくらいですか(^0^)？
What is 仮歌？
What does that tweet say?
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What is the meaning of ちょうど一本 in this context?
If I've understood correctly, ちょうど followed by a counting word usually means something like "just x" or "exactly x" depending on the context, but I can't figure out what it means in this opening ...
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How to translate "edge" into Japanese
I've seen several translations of the following song lyrics from Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory" online, and none of them look quite right.
I'm on the edge, the edge,
the edge, the edge,
the edge, the ...
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What is the subject of this sentence?
I'm translating a song which can be seen here. At the end of the song is this:
傷つけてしまう夜もあるだろう 分かち合えない想いもあるだろう
What is the subject of 傷つけてしまう夜もあるだろう? Is the singer saying, "there may be nights ...
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What are some sentences that exhibit わがまま
わがままはもう言わない gets translated as "won't say anything selfish anymore." However, this doesn't really make sense. If I google "say anything selfish," what I find are sites that have translated わがままはもう言わない ...
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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.
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how would a native ask the question "Where are you going later?"
After reading the 2 threads: How to use へ (-e), に (-ni), まで (made) and の方 (no-hō) with destination and direction? and When going somewhere, is there any difference between e (へ) and ni (に)?
I would ...
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Does the (USA) English metaphor "Unable to see the forest for the trees" keep its meaning if translated verbatim into Japanese?
The phrase "Unable to see the forest for the trees" implies one is too entangled in a situation to understand what is transpiring from a larger context, and thus, unable to determine the correct ...
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Computer calculation: is there a better word than "オンザフライ" to say "on-the-fly"?
As a valuable feature of my software product, I want to say that results are calculated on-the-fly, meaning the user does not have to wait and receive results by email: results are displayed after two ...
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Shouldn't 確認する always be translated into "check"?
One thing I have noticed among my Japanese coworkers is that it seems that they overuse the verb "confirm" when translating 確認する:
テストを確認する ("confirm the tests")
彼と確認して欲しい ("[...
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Can the qualifiers "very" and "too" be expressed unambiguously in Japanese?
I've noticed that some of my Japanese friends with fluent but imperfect English often say "too adjective" when a native English speaker would say just "very adjective".
(I am asking about "too" in ...
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How would you translate: 毎日は楽しくなりました。
毎日は楽しくなりました。
Would you translate this: Every day was fun.
or
Every day became fun.
I know that なる can be used to say that A becomes B. But in this example what is the nuance of the meaning of なる？
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