35
「アリ」 here means "acceptable", "no problem", "possible", etc.
It is a vastly common colloquial usage, but I would not call it slangy.
「そんなのアリかよ？」
therefore means:
"Is that (even) acceptable?"
Needless to say, the word comes from 「有{あ}り」 and it is pronounced differently from 「アリ」 ("an ant").
「アリ」 in question is 「アリ{HL}」.
「アリ」 ("an ant") is 「アリ{LH}」.
...
25
乗り切る doesn't quite fit here because it's about enduring through a hardship. With 乗り切る, wave(s) of difficulties come and go while you persevere, where as in "get over it," you need to overcome it yourself.
乗り越える, 克服する and 打ち勝つ do have the sense of actively overcoming some obstacle, and may work if you use it together with the right noun. I'll come back to ...
21
もしもし is used to call for someone’s attention. Although it is often used on the phone, the use is not limited to phone calls. もしもし is a repetition of もし, which is also used to call for an attention. もし is a variation of 申し (もうし), which was used in the same way in old time. 申し definitely predates telephones, and I guess that both もし and もしもし for asking for ...
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
It randomly occurred to me today that while these are indeed similar in meaning, they are not always interchangeable. If you're talking about making a call to someone/somewhere, either can be used:
事務所に電話する call the office
事務所に電話をかける call the office
But 電話する can also be a joint action. Consider the following:
彼氏と電話する talk on the phone with one's ...
14
According to the Wikipedia article for 虫:
体内の架空、仮想の生物の意味で用いるもの。Used for the meanings of "imaginary inside the body, imaginary creatures":
三尸{さんし}の虫: A 庚申{こうしん} belief originating from Taoism from China that inside the bodies of humans there are three bugs.
虫の知らせ: A premonition. As if given a prediction by the inner-body "bugs", a feeling about ...
14
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.
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".
12
Neither of the current answers sit well with me at the moment, so I'm going to risk adding to the confusion by posting another.
Question 1 (grammar)
First, let's clarify the two verbs in question:
解く solve (a problem)
解ける resolve (itself)
(These are not the only definitions, but for the sake of brevity and on-topic-ness we'll go with these.)
The ...
12
「あっという間{ま}」 is the phrase I would suggest.
"Two years will be over in the blink of an eye." would be:
「2年{ねん}なんて、あっという間だよ。」
「2年なんて、あっという間に終{お}わるよ。」
Needless to say, 「あっという間」 literally means "while you utter 「あ」". It is a very common and useful phrase for "in the blink of an eye".
11
According to jisho.org 洗い出す means "to reveal by investigation". Hope this helps.
11
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 ...
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,...
10
For my money, 「はい、どうも」 just can't be beat.
What's that? Too informal, you say?
Far from it, my good man. 「はい、どうも」 isn't a replacement for よろしく or 宜しくお願いします when you're winding down the conversation.
But there's always that awkwardness that sets in - happens in English, too - when you and the person on the other end are saying conversation-ending-phrases ...
10
俗語辞書（ぞくごじしょ） (slang dictionary) says that that word was formed because of the radio program called 社会の窓（しゃかいのまど） around 1948-1960, which tried expose anything about society/community.
And people start to called zip fasteners 社会の窓, because it is a hidden place for men.
Also when zip fasteners are opened in any place other than the toilet, they called it ...
10
すます is 澄ます without the kanji, and it means "to clear, to purify".
耳をすます【みみをすます】is a set phrase, listed in the dictionary in its complete form, meaning to listen carefully.
You can think of すます, then, in this context, as meaning to clear out your ears so as to listen better.
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
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
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
I really like Sawa's "しつこいよ".
I would say (and happen to say) things like:
もういい
I've had enough of this
おはしが上手だって当たり前だよ。あんた、フォーク使えるのと同じだろう？！
Of course I can use chopsticks! Can't you use a fork?
外国に行ったら、それぐらいみんなできるよ。知らないの？ええ？！
Didn't you know that every one abroad is capable of that? I can't believe it!
どうでもいいから、話変えてくれないか？
Great. Can't we ...
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
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, ...
9
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 ...
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
[目]{め}くそ[鼻]{はな}くそを[笑]{わら}うだよね。
=
『目くそ鼻くそを笑う』だよね。
=
『目くそ鼻くそを笑う』, as they say, eh?
Pretend to see a 「が」 after 「目くそ」.
It is quoting the saying 「目くそ鼻くそを笑う」, which literally means "Eye discharge laughs at booger." The saying means that Person A is criticizing Person B for the same negative quality that Person A has.
The English parallel would be "The ...
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