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What does 業者など、読者本人以外による mean?

First off, your understanding should be fine. It says basically the person who bought the book is the only one who can digitize the book. 読者本人 is literally reader themself, so just emphasizing reader (...
sundowner's user avatar
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What does ○○ていない + といけない mean?

It would be very surprising if a native speaker were to parse 待っていないといけない as 待ってい + ないといけない. Leaving aside the analysis of 待っていない, with a bracketing notation, the sentence is construed as [[待っていない] と] ...
N. Hunt's user avatar
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What does ○○ていない + といけない mean?

As a logical matter: while いけない is usually considered as just an expression (or rather part of an expression), it's really the negative (as one would expect from its construction) of いける. We get a ...
Karl Knechtel's user avatar
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What does ○○ていない + といけない mean?

といけない does not mean "have to" by itself. と is "then", and いけない is "no good", so the combined meaning of といけない is something like "then (it's going to be) bad". ...
naruto's user avatar
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What does ○○ていない + といけない mean?

The difference between 待っている and 待つ is whether continuous or not, as you are aware of. The difference there is smaller than other cases such as 立っている and 立つ probably because an action to wait is ...
Ryo's user avatar
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Why can't I say 「電車に遅刻する」?

To be fair, if you Google that phrase you can actually find a small number of examples of seemingly native speakers using it. They may be using it as a slightly more formal variant of 遅れる, and it is ...
broccoli forest's user avatar
8 votes

Why can't I say 「電車に遅刻する」?

You have some good answers to your exact question with your exact sentences at HiNative and Đáp Án. I'll quote them here. HiNative (translation from Japanese and emphasis mine): 「授業に遅刻してすみません」is ...
jarmanso7's user avatar
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3 votes

Does 罪 in 罪を受ける literally mean "crimes"?

I find it weird, too, and from what I gathered, most contemporary speakers don't understand 罪 as "punishment". Apparently it used to mean both things, but today many people would exclusively ...
Enno Shioji's user avatar
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Understanding this particular sense of バーター

事務所 is an agency. So A and B are high/low rep actors of the same agency. The meaning of barter is more or less literal. (Say,) TV wants A because A's appearing increases the popularity of the program. ...
sundowner's user avatar
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3 votes

Understanding this particular sense of バーター

This explanation involves only one talent agency. Rough translation: As a jargon, in exchange for letting their popular actor appear (in a film, on a stage etc), an agency request to appoint their ...
rk03's user avatar
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Does 「2メートルくらい」 really mean "2 meters or slightly more" instead of "approximately 2 meters"?

The short answer is "No". I think you are overanalysing their attempted explanation (which makes no sense). 「2メートルくらい」 simply means "approximately 2 meters", and as aguijonazo said ...
Brian Chandler's user avatar
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What's the meaning of the expression verb + "ikitai to omoimasu"?

About the syntax If you want to combine any given verb with [行]{i}き{ki}た{ta}い{i} (or [行]{i}く{ku}, for that matter), you should: Use the so-called masu stem (or more appropiately [連]{ren}[用]{you}[形]{...
jarmanso7's user avatar
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1 vote

Asking what's in a container

I agree with naruto's description of the nuance; I just want to try to give a bit more analysis. The relevant sense of 〇〇に入る is "to be contained within 〇〇". This is more general than 〇〇の中である,...
Karl Knechtel's user avatar
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Asking what's in a container

Grammatically speaking, there is no tricky difference between 箱 ("box") and カート ("cart"). カートの中は何ですか and 箱には何が入っていますか are both perfectly correct sentences, too. As for your second ...
naruto's user avatar
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添{そ}い遂{と}げる (soitogeru) = "to be with" or "to remain married to for life"?

添い遂げる is quite a strong verb, as 遂げる has a nuance of "to finish" or "until the end". Depending on the context, the literal meaning of "until death" may not be that ...
naruto's user avatar
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Interpreting その体 in the context of addressing a shape-shifter dragon

その体 and "that other body" both refer to the same thing, the human body. The English phrase "other body" might mean either "a body different from the current one" or "...
naruto's user avatar
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Inferring the missing verbs from「世の中に知らしめるんだ 僕の存在を正義の裁きを下す者が いるってことを」

This is a typical example of 倒置文 (anastrophe), where the object comes after the corresponding verb. You don't have to "infer" the verb; the verb (知らしめる "to make someone know") is ...
naruto's user avatar
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1 vote

「お疲れ様でした」 word by word meaning vs. actual meaning?

It's an idiom, it's a greeting, "Tough job well done." Don't get too deep into analyzing it. It's sort of like taking apart "How do you do?". But, if you must dive in, otsukaresama ...
Jun Sato's user avatar
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2 votes

Meaning of であるだけ in Naomi by Tanizaki

This だけ is the same as だけに or だけあって. This contraction(?) is not very common, but it does happen occasionally. 在り来たりの世帯道具は置き所のない家であるだけ(に)、従って選択も自由であり、… As (our house) is a house where there is no ...
naruto's user avatar
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1 vote
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「お疲れ様でした」 word by word meaning vs. actual meaning?

I'm new in linguistics topics but I think we can find the right answer in semantics and pragmatics. Semantics and pragmatics are two different branches of linguistics which the former is involved with ...
Hadi Karimi's user avatar
3 votes

「お疲れ様でした」 word by word meaning vs. actual meaning?

being tired creates a negative meaning in the mind Sure; generally, we would rather not be tired, than be tired. Therefore, when someone else has done work, and become tired as a result, we should be ...
Karl Knechtel's user avatar
4 votes

「お疲れ様でした」 word by word meaning vs. actual meaning?

The underlying message is "you worked hard, so you are tired". Hard work being commendable. An aside remark: it rhymes interestingly with a line in a famous Russian rock song "where the ...
Yaroslav Fyodorov's user avatar
2 votes

Any help with this phrase?

上手 is ordinarily a [形容動詞]{けいようどうし} or "na-adjective". It could be used as a noun on its own, but more commonly it's describing something else. Like with other 形容動詞, it takes な when ...
Karl Knechtel's user avatar
0 votes

Any help with this phrase?

上手 paired with が? There are some uses as a noun, but generally, as here, it is a keiyoudōshi used adverbially.
N. Hunt's user avatar
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3 votes
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What does 亜字形図象 mean?

In standard usage, 象 and 像 are distinct kanji with different meanings. In particular, they are rarely confused in the following contexts: 象 (ぞう; elephant): 象牙 (ivory) 像 (ぞう; statue): 銅像 (bronze ...
naruto's user avatar
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What does 亜字形図象 mean?

Not positive, but I think it's (((亜字形)図)象): that is 亜字形, plus the suffix ~図, plus another suffix ~象 (that I would say is read as ~[象]{しょう} - "phenomenon"). 亜字形図象 - "The 亜-shaped icon/...
istrasci's user avatar
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4 votes

What does ようにと言う mean in 薬を飲んで様子を見るようにと言われました?

To add to the previous answers, ように can be used to make a request in combination with と, but you don't necessarily have to use the verb 言う. Other verbs that add different nuances work with ように[と] too: ...
jarmanso7's user avatar
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7 votes

What does ようにと言う mean in 薬を飲んで様子を見るようにと言われました?

It's a matter of punctuation. (先生)「薬を飲んで、様子を見るように!」      と(先生に)言われました。 If you break it down like that, it should make sense. The confusing part (for the latin-based language speakers) is that it is ...
Jun Sato's user avatar
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5 votes

What does ようにと言う mean in 薬を飲んで様子を見るようにと言われました?

After ように you can assume してくたさい has been omitted, thus ようにと is the way one indicates a command indirectly, i.e., 'I was told to [see to/make sure] I watch [his/her/its] condition'. More simply, 'I was ...
N. Hunt's user avatar
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2 votes
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What does ネームでよく動いてくれる mean?

The literal translation of this sentence is indeed: こんなキャラはネームでよく動いてくれるので描きやすいです This type of character is easy to draw because they "moves a lot" in storyboarding. ネーム is not just about ...
naruto's user avatar
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3 votes
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Is there any Japanese saying, proverb or idiom equivalent to the meaning of the biblical parable "The Mote and the Beam"?

Off the top of my head: 「[目糞]{めくそ}[鼻糞]{はなくそ}を笑う」 「人のふり見て[我]{わ}がふり直せ」 「[猿]{さる}の[尻]{しり}笑い」 「五十歩百歩」/「五十歩をもって百歩を笑う」 Similar/related proverbs on the net: 「[蠣]{かき}が[鼻垂]{はなた}れを笑う」 「[腐]{くさ}れ[柿]{がき}が[熟柿]{じゅくし}...
chocolate's user avatar
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2 votes

Is there any Japanese saying, proverb or idiom equivalent to the meaning of the biblical parable "The Mote and the Beam"?

For what is worth, I've found two related expressions at Jisho.org: 人のことを言う means "to find fault with other people rather than oneself" or "(for the pot) to call the kettle black" ...
jarmanso7's user avatar
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1 vote

How do I understand いいかしら

They are the same, except いいかしら is feminine. If a dude was to utter it, it is, well, fabulous. Just to confirm, as you wrote "something is good or not" - both いいですか? and いいかしら? are asking ...
Jun Sato's user avatar
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2 votes
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Meaning and pronunciation of 通目

The word 通目 is the combination of the counter 通{つう} for letters, messages, entries, etc. (see entry 2. here), and the ordinal number suffix 目{め} (see entry 17. here): 5通の手紙。Five letters. 5通目の手紙。The ...
jarmanso7's user avatar
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2 votes
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Is ためらうわけではなかった natural?

When I search 「ためらうとは」 the Google definition pulled up has the example sentence 「受診するのを―」 so the transitive use does seem established. Literally translated, 'It didn't stop her giving them homework' ...
Angelos's user avatar
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