59
votes
What do the shapes △ ◯ ╳ ◻ mean in Japanese? And are there variations in meaning, depending on whether or not the shape is filled?
○ まる
OK; correct; yes; supported; available (like ✔; note that the check mark usually means "wrong" in Japanese examinations)
masked/censored character (like * in English used to mask ...
- 301k
27
votes
What is the meaning of 金〇
This 金〇 is 金麦, a well-known beer brand by Suntory Ltd. You can see the character 麦 on the can.
Here 麦 is masked by the circle in order to avoid issues regarding trademarks or conflict of interest. ...
- 301k
22
votes
Accepted
How do I read 100°C in Japanese?
It is in a slightly different order in Japanese.
First comes Celsius, then the amount, and degrees at the end.
This would be one hundred degrees Celsius written out:
摂氏{せっし}100度{ど}
Fahrenheit for ...
- 1,358
22
votes
Accepted
What does it mean when multiple 々 marks follow a 、?
「々」is called「同{どう}の字{じ}点{てん}」it is used to repeat 1 previous character.
人人 = 人々
When there are multiple 同の字点 it means to repeat 'n' previous characters.
已及深更、深更後... =
已及深更、々々後...
&
令召右大辨、...
- 7,351
14
votes
Accepted
What does 「／＼」 mean in this sentence?
This is supposed to be an iteration mark.
This type of iteration mark is usually only used in vertical writing (the traditional layout for Japanese writing). It looks like a big く but is twice as ...
- 47.9k
14
votes
Accepted
What do these symbols in manga mean?
This seems to be an encoding/typesetting issue and the "symbols" are indeed Greek letters Ψ, Π, π that seem to be displayed instead of !, ?, 〜.
There is another typographical oddity that suggests ...
- 47.9k
14
votes
Accepted
Japanese symbol for "Japanese language"
ES, DE, EN are all ISO codes -- "ISO" as in "International Standards Organization" (technically, it's the "International Organization for Standardization"). These codes ...
- 36.3k
12
votes
How do I read 100°C in Japanese?
The reading depends on the situation. In a scientific or technical environment Chris's answer is 100% correct.
However, in conversational non-technical situations it is read differently.
When ...
- 321
12
votes
Accepted
what does this symbol mean? ⊂((・x・))⊃
The kaomoji ⊂((・x・))⊃ doesn't have a fixed universal meaning. It always depends on a preference of a person who uses it and the situation where the kaomoji is used.
There are at least three ...
- 2,766
12
votes
Accepted
Usage of Encircled Kanji
These are called 丸囲み文字.
丸囲み数字 or 丸数字 (①②③...) are very common, and their purpose is to write a numbered list of items. The equivalent in English is (1) (2) (3) or i. ii. iii.. Characters ① to ⑳ have ...
- 301k
12
votes
Can 々 stand for a duplicated kanji with a different reading?
I wouldn't necessarily say 々 is used to avoid having to write the same kanji again, but rather to make it clear that the word is obtained by duplication of a character — moreover the reading should be ...
- 47.9k
10
votes
Accepted
How to pronounce "R → ∞ " in a mathematical context
R → ∞
is usually read
R を限りなく大きくする［と・とき］
R が限りなく大きくなる［と・とき］
I don't think that 「R → ∞ のとき」 is supposed to have a fixed natural pronunciation. You can ignore the の and read it as above, or you ...
- 47.9k
10
votes
Accepted
How to pronounce "×"?
This type of × (indicates a close relationship between two things/people) is usually simply ignored, just as we do not bother to read ❤ or ★ aloud in titles and such. "ラビ×ラビ" is read as ラビラビ as if it ...
- 301k
10
votes
Accepted
How does one pronounce ≒ the symbol for "approximately"?
We pronounce/read ≒ as 「ニアリーイコール」 in maths class in Japanese schools.
For example, we read these:
10 ÷ 3 ≒ 3.3
「じゅうわるさん ニアリーイコール さんてんさん」
√2 ≒ 1.414
「ルート に ニアリーイコール いってんよんいちよん」
参考：
https://sci-...
- 65.2k
8
votes
What does 〇〇〇〇 mean when combined with おじさん？
〇〇 is used to mask/censor part of a word.
Why censor this one kanji?
What is the meaning of 金〇
In contexts related to otaku-ish hobbies, Xおじさん is recently used to form a slang word that means "(...
- 301k
8
votes
Accepted
Circle inside a circle character. What is it?
After doing some investigation, it seems that there are two Unicode characters which are made of a circle inside another circle:
◎ U+25CE BULLSEYE
⭗ U+2B57 HEAVY CIRCLE WITH CIRCLE INSIDE
In this ...
8
votes
Accepted
Meaning of ▽ in an article
As A.Ellett says, ▽ in this context is used as (in-line) bullet points. Although ・（中黒 {なかぐろ}）is the most commonly used for this purpose, the ▽ symbole ("down-pointing triangle") is ...
- 3,516
7
votes
Accepted
Name of レ点 in 漢文
The レ点 means first read the next character (that is the character below since it was written from top to bottom at that time) then read the previous character.
Ex: 帰ル（レ点）国ニ should read 国に帰る.
Before, ...
- 7,033
7
votes
Accepted
What does ㊙︎DVD mean?
This is a common abbreviation style to suggest a certain phrase by enclosing a single kanji in the word. Some frequently used symbols are now officially available on the computer (see 1, 2) due to ...
- 50.4k
6
votes
Can 々 stand for a duplicated kanji with a different reading?
Yes. For example, here are two places in Chiba:
酒々井 (しすい)
行々林 (おどろばやし)
You could also make arguments for 神々廻 (ししば), too.
- 61
6
votes
Accepted
What does 〇〇〇〇 mean when combined with おじさん？
〇〇〇〇 implies that various words are applied to 〇〇〇〇. For example, he might say 映画好きのおじさん、公務員のおじさん、車が趣味のおじさん and so on. But he doesn't say it concretely because he would just tell that he is a middle ...
- 24.1k
6
votes
Accepted
"Xうわ"? What is X in image?
"X" is not a glyph, it's a type of mark often used in manga in situations of surprise or similar reactions with some sudden emotional response. The same mark also appears above the woman on the left ...
- 47.9k
5
votes
How do I read 100°C in Japanese?
We say usually only 度 like 100度 because only Celsius is commonly used in Japan, so we don't need to say 摂氏.
- 24.1k
5
votes
How to pronounce "R → ∞ " in a mathematical context
In Japanese,
R is pronounced aaru (アール)
→ is pronounced yajirusi (矢印【やじるし】)
∞ is pronounced mugendai (無限大【むげんだい】)
I think "n→∞" is often pronounced as follows in the differential and integral.
...
- 818
5
votes
Accepted
What does「ゝ」mean?
ゝ is used to indicate previous hiragana is repeated. In your example, you can regard the sentence to be exactly the same as below.
野山にまじりて、竹を取りつつ、萬づの事に使ひけり。
- 1,037
5
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between a daimon and a mon or kamon?
代紋｛だいもん｝ refers exclusively to the crest of a yakuza group.
Think of it as a 家紋{かもん} for yakuzas.
- 2,693
5
votes
Accepted
What is the significance of the ☆ symbol?
The star symbols (☆★) have many distinct usages (from near-formal to informal) as a pair of typographical symbols which were available from the first edition of Japanese character set standard.
One ...
- 50.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Uses of [◯]{まる} symbol in Japanese typography
I usually see ○○ when people refer to a series of related things with similar names. For example, here is an article about 危険な○○シリーズ, which is a series of comical video remixes that use the same song ...
- 2,715
4
votes
Accepted
θ波はどういう意味ですか？~What does θ波 mean?
θ is Theta, a character from the Greek alphabet that makes the 'th' sound as in 'thin.' It does also describe a type of brain wave . . . and as it happens, 'wave' is the meaning of 波. Now as for what ...
- 357
4
votes
Is it possible to use 々 and co (ヽ、ゝ、...) even if the shortened part is from another word?
It is definitely a bad style.
Wikipedia article first states:
Using 々 instead of repeating kanji is usually the preferred form, with two restrictions: (...) the repetition must be within a single ...
- 6,537
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible