24
votes
Accepted
Saying ジャパニーズ instead of 日本の
There are various reasons to use katakana or loanwords (see other answers), but in this case, I think the reason is very close to why 日本 is sometimes written as ニッポン or why トヨタ is written in katakana. ...
- 337k
14
votes
What is this Kanji? I can’t find it anywhere?
That’s likely not a kanji, but rather a hiragana そ (so) in its split/handwritten form (like on the right here):
- 16.5k
11
votes
Accepted
What is an appropriate, respectful, and pleasing to the other person response to the statement "Your Japanese is very good"?
The safest and easiest response a beginner can use would be どうも (dōmo) or ありがとうございます (arigatō gozaimasu).
(A tourist who knows only a few Japanese words should not try to say something more ...
- 337k
10
votes
Accepted
The meaning of 星人 vs 宇宙人
星人 is never used alone. It is used with specific names of planets like 火星人{かせいじん}(Martian), 金星人{きんせいじん}(Venusian), or ナメック星人. It means the habitants of a particular planet. FYI earthlings are 地球人.
On ...
- 37.7k
7
votes
Accepted
Confusing words that sound like a name and a suffix
how would a Japanese person differentiate between it and calling a human, named "Tai", "mister", i.e. "tai-san"?
These are different in pitch accent.
退散 is pronounced [...
- 66.4k
6
votes
Accepted
向こうも向こうで What does this mean in this context ? (mukou mo mukou de) Is this some kind of Japanese Idiom?
This is a variant of the AはAで construction that has been asked several times on this site:
Meaning of あいつはあいつで
What is the meaning of あいつはあいつで?
What is meant by それはそれで面白い in this sentence
This も ...
- 337k
6
votes
Accepted
キミの心が、綺麗なのがいけないんだよ? >> What does this mean ? "Why is your heart ,it's beauty made me so hopeless/defenseless against you ?"
While いけない can indeed mean “hopeless”, in this context it is used more in the meaning of “not good; wrong”.
Some examples from Kenkyusha J-E dictionary:
なんていけない子だろう.
What a naughty child you are!
...
- 6,608
6
votes
Accepted
Literal rendition of 死ぬほど
My literal translation would be:
Today, when you thought about death, is the same day those who died yesterday would have killed to live.
As you can tell, I am not a native speaker of English and ...
- 21.8k
6
votes
Accepted
What does this mean in this context ? 結構堪える [A character's thought about a girl when she's keeping a distance from him, while sitting with him]
This 堪える is read こたえる. In this context, it means "this is tough", "it saddens me", etc.
こた・える〔こたへる〕【応える】
２ 外からの刺激を身に強く感じる。「寒さが骨身に―・える」「父の死が―・えた」
こた・える【応える】
❷刺激や苦痛がひどく負担になる。
「酷暑が（...
- 337k
5
votes
Accepted
What is the meaning of いじります in Information Technology?
It's like "touch", "play around" or "hack". 編集 "edit", 修正 "fix" and 変更 "modify" are formal kango words, but perhaps they wanted to use more loose and informal word.
- 337k
5
votes
need help with a locality
In older times, 國 (modern 国) was the suffix for provinces, generally read as ～のくに. Japanese Wikipedia article for Musashi Province, corresponding English Wikipedia article.
小佛山 is the older spelling ...
- 38.6k
5
votes
Accepted
Comprehension problem of 世に囁かれる星の数にも届くそれらは、一種の「願望」である。
We need to see the context!
『都市伝説』。
世に囁かれる星の数にも届くそれらは、一種の『願望』である。
———例えばそれは、『人類は月に行っていない』という都市伝説。
———例えばそれは、ドル紙幣に隠されたフリーメイソンの陰謀。
———例えばそれは、フィラデルフィア計画による時間移動実験。
千代田線核シェルター説、エリア51、ロズウェル事件、etc—–—
...
- 66.4k
5
votes
Saying ジャパニーズ instead of 日本の
There are a couple of situations where using カタカナ語 (Western loanwords transcribed in katakana) is preferred.
It is cool.
Young people like to say things differently.
The word/phrase was borrowed ...
- 11.6k
5
votes
Saying ジャパニーズ instead of 日本の
At the first sight of this expression ジャパニーズデザイン, I felt it very strange as Japanese English, because of its relative length. This leads me into some search of this expression on the Web. I have found ...
- 1,259
5
votes
Accepted
What does the kanji '図' mean?
図 ("zu") is a word that primarily refers to technical diagrams and illustrations. A typical 図 is something shown in this page:
Technical illustrations are also 図, but artistic illustrations ...
- 337k
4
votes
Use of という in a sentence
会う約束をした友達から乗っている電車が止まっているというメールが来た。
This という means "saying that" and is describing the contents of the メール.
The main part of the sentence is this:
会う約束をした友達からメールが来た。
Xというメール is "an e-mail which ...
- 30.8k
4
votes
Does 「本わさび入りねり」 translate to "true/regular wasabi in paste"?
The label translates to "wasabi paste containing real/true wasabi"
本わさび入り means "containing real/true wasabi"
[練り]{ねり} is often used as a prefix to mean "ground X" or &...
- 48.4k
4
votes
Kanji compounds with the same meaning
Compound words are made of kanji, but each kanji is not necessarily "words" that can be used on its own. Consider, in English, telepathy is made of tele- and -pathy, both of which have some ...
- 337k
4
votes
Accepted
Can 物語 apply to short stories as well
30 pages is long enough to be called a 物語, but note that its meaning is somewhere between "tale", "legend" and generic "story". If your story is something like Harry ...
- 337k
4
votes
Accepted
Meaning of 実況してみた
みた in 実況してみた means try to do or try doing something.
In the phrase, 見る has almost completely lost its original most familiar meaning, but supports the verb 実況する by adding the meaning of an attempt or ...
- 366
4
votes
Accepted
話がすっきり what does this means?
すっきり is a mimetic word that describes how clean or tidy something is. Depending on the context and the subject, すっきりする can mean "to be clear/clean/tidy/simple", "to feel refreshed",...
- 337k
4
votes
Accepted
１から１０まで (ichi kara juu made / 一から十まで) >> What does this mean in this context?
1から10まで is a set phrase that means "everything", "from beginning to end" or "from A to Z". It's synonymous with 何から何まで. We also say 1から100まで. 目論見 is "plot/plan/...
- 337k
4
votes
Accepted
What does 張ってた (hatteta) mean in this context?
I think it means definition 22 from デジタル大辞泉.
22 見張りを置く。見張る。「国道を―・る」
So the detective stood watch over the area to see if the culprit would return. This is because the detective thought it was ...
- 8,534
4
votes
キッチリした性格の人 >>What does this mean about a person characteristic?
Depending on the context, きっちり could be translated as “tight”, “exact”, “punctual”, “proper”, etc.
If someone is described as キッチリした性格の人, she would most likely be dressed neatly, keep things well ...
- 21.8k
4
votes
Accepted
ホワッとした子 >>What does this mean about a girl?
It's used for someone that has soothing atmosphere, maybe "goofy" is closest expression?
I think people who are a little goofy, but have a charming or gentle kind of vibe tend to be called &...
- 1,992
4
votes
Accepted
Problems with translating the word "自省に" in the context of the whole sentence
Your first reading is basically correct.
The subject of 移す should be 各省 (other ministries), without further contexts. So 自省 means here '(The movement where) other ministries try to transfer the ...
- 37.7k
4
votes
Can いそがしい mean busy as in 'crowded'
Generally, the answer is no. 忙しい only means 'having a lot of things to do'.
忙しい街 seems possible, and 忙しい通り may be understood similarly (google search shows it is not common), vaguely as streets where ...
- 37.7k
4
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between 祟り and 呪い
There is some overlap between the two concepts and I have to use the word "typically" to describe them.
Typically, a 祟り is believed to come from angry ghosts, Japanese kami, or similar ...
- 337k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible