18
今日という日 (literally "the day called today") is just an emphatic version of "today", or "this very day". This expression is commonly used in formal greetings and poems. (I tried jisho.org but got nothing related to "everyday". How did you come up with "everyday"?)
15
This may be close to that phrase:
話{はなし}半{はん}分{ぶん}に聞く
話半分 denotes where roughly half of what is said is a truth, and half is a falsehood or exaggeration according to Daijirin.
Another similar phrase may be 割り引いて聞く, which means something similar to "discount some of what somebody says".
See also Space ALC for more expressions.
14
I don't think "read between the lines" accurately conveys the intended meaning of 空気{くうき}を読{よ}む. Reading between the lines is usually if you are given a specific phrase, written or spoken, and you are expected to understand an implied, and intended, meaning that is not directly stated. Whereas reading the air, as far as I know, is about understanding a ...
14
What is the etymology of the phrase 隴を得て蜀を望む?
We can reorder the characters to get 得隴望蜀, which is a Chinese-language yojijukugo. This phrase may reference a few unrelated historical events.
The earliest such event is about Emperor Guangwu of Han reunifying the Gansu region into Han territory then turning his sights on Sichuan (see Emperor Guangwu of Han's ...
13
It is relatively gentle, and a good way of allaying fears or dispelling misconceptions.
お邪魔みたいですので、これで失礼しますね… It seems like I'm interrupting you, so I'll see myself out...
そんなこと（は）ないですよ Not at all! / Don't be silly! / No such thing!
かなり怖い人だそうですけど… I heard he's quite a scary person...
そんなことない Not at all.
If by your last question you mean can the ...
13
Yes.
郷【ごう】に入【い】っては郷【ごう】に従【したが】え
which literally means "When you enter a village, obey (the custom of) the village".
11
脳裏 and 目の奥 are often used with 焼き付く as in
脳裏に焼き付いた。
and are referring to an event, which has been etched into your brain or onto the back of your eyes. Hence, the latter is used for visual impressions, whereas the former can be used for any type of impression. Both are strong impressions, which are unforgettable.
頭の隅 corresponds to the back of your mind,...
11
としたことが and ともあろうものが are used to express the surprise of the speaker toward the (bad) behaviour of someone.
With 私, it expresses something around the line of "Who could have thought I/someone like me/someone of my standing/someone of my position (would do such a thing)"
Here are some examples from the 和英大辞典：
君としたことが, とんだへまをしでかしてくれたものだ.
You, of all ...
10
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 ...
10
Is there a phrase, idiomatic or otherwise, to convey a "window of opportunity"?
As you may have noticed, in English, "window" conveys a period of time, that is why you can say "launch window" and "window of opportunity".
To convey "window of opportunity” in Japanese, there are several phrases that come to mind:
好機到来
絶好の機会
今がチャンス
※Side note, ...
10
As you correctly understood, よりを戻す is an idiom meaning for a broken couple to get back together.
[縒]{よ}る means “to twist threads together to make a thicker string.” [縒]{よ}りを戻す literally means to undo this process and turn a string into several threads apart. This may sound like the opposite of getting back together (certainly it does sound like the ...
10
According to the ja.wikipedia page on GKBR, it can be ゴキブリ as well as:
ｶﾞｸｶﾞｸﾌﾞﾙﾌﾞﾙ - 恐怖で震えるさまを表す擬態語。
So it'd be "GaKu BuRu," onomatopoeia that represents fearful trembling.
It's some 2ch slang, of course.
Here also is an entry on the nicovideo dictionary
10
The 面白 comes from 面白い which as you probably know means "fun, interesting". The 半分 part means "half".
The expression ”面白半分に” means literally to do something "half fun", "half serious" (as you hinted at). See the definition in the dictionary here. The "に" acts to make the phrase an adverb which is acting on a verb such as 見る or 言う in your examples.
The ...
9
阿月地区を東西二つに分けて means "separate the Azuki district into two parts, east and west".
You could insert a の, making it 東西の二つ, but the adverbial use without it is not uncommon for these "listing"-jukugo like 東西, 優劣, 大小 etc.
9
嫌な汗 is commonly used and refers to sweat that comes out in a "bad situation", especially in anticipation of a "bad situation". In my personal opinion it emphasizes how the person is still maintaining his/her composure (rather than flailing around, screaming, running away etc.) despite being very worried or distressed inside.
For example, if you are a ...
9
When talking about children/grandchildren and not romantic relationships, a common idiom is:
目に入れても痛くない{いたくない}
(Literal: It wouldn't hurt if I put them in my eye)
It's similar to saying that they are the apple of your eye, and you could do anything for them.
9
You can find many idioms that denote something is impossible on online glossaries, including:
石に花咲く (a flower blooms on a stone)
太陽が西から昇る (the sun rising from the west)
網の目に風とまる (wind being trapped by a net)
畑に蛤 (finding clams in a vegetable field)
山の芋鰻になる (potatoes becoming eels)
But these are all fairly rare. I think these are used like (impossible event)...
9
Basically it means "easy hunt/game/prey". I think "something surprising but convenient" is slightly wrong. So it can't be used like your example. Second example is correct, the phrase exists for.
We love 蕎麦(Japanese noodle), and duck(鴨) meat one is really popular since Edo period. We usually put 葱(Green leek?) in 蕎麦, so if we found a 鴨 carrying 葱 and could ...
8
I believe [無駄足]{むだあし} is derived from [無駄足]{むだあし}を[運]{はこ}ぶ ("move one's feet in vain"), which is one of a series of counterintuitive idioms Japanese vocabulary has.
[小腹]{こばら}が[減]{へ}る "little stomach get empty"
actually describing "be a little hungry" (cf. [腹]{はら}が[減]{へ}る "be hungry")
[大]{おお}ぼらを[吹]{ふ}く "blow on a big conch"
actually, "blow on a conch loudly" ...
8
If what you're talking about is this:
to do something that spoils someone's plans
We have idioms 水【みず】を差【さ】す and 腰【こし】を折【お】る in Japanese.
水を差して [apology words] …
水を差すようで [apology words] …
水を差すようなことを言って [apology words] …
（話の）腰を折って [apology words] …
(... and so forth ...)
while in [apology words] you can fill (in the order from casual to ...
8
I personally think 時すでに遅し is fine (時すでに遅し is an idiomatic phrase which is not based on plain modern Japanese grammar), but if you want "more idiomatic" ones, you may use the following expressions:
覆水盆に返らず
(lit.) Spilled water won't go back to a bowl.
後悔先に立たず
(lit.) Regret never precedes.
落花枝に返らず、破鏡再び照らさず (rare)
(lit.) A fallen blossom won't go back to a ...
7
It's just based on the metaphorical idea of something turning meaning that something is functioning normally, as in a machine. In English we have sayings about the gears not turning. You can't really try to draw parallels between idiomatic phrases. For example, in English if you're dizzy then your head is spinning, but in Japanese it's your eyes that spin (...
7
だがたまには下も見るもんだぜ
だがたまには下も見るものだぜ
In this context ～もんだ is a slightly more informal way of saying ～ものだ, which is similar to ～べきだ as covered in this post. So the speaker is trying to say that 'one should...(look down etc.)' For better flow of the translation I would personally translate it as follows:
A: There is always someone above you in this world.
B: ...
7
Just to make sure you don't miss this point:
The lady is trying to blackmail the principal into firing the teacher by threatening to spill the beans to the media, thereby damaging the reputation of the school.
マスコミにバラしてもいいんですよ
"I'll go to the media if I have to" or something like that. As others have explained, the question mark doesn't really turn this ...
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