question dict | answers list | id stringlengths 1 6 | accepted_answer_id stringlengths 2 6 ⌀ | popular_answer_id stringlengths 1 6 ⌀ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2059",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I was in Japan recently and am trying to remember the name for a small towel\nthe Japanese may use to wipe the sweat off their faces in the summer. I was\nhoping to buy one for myself in the U.S.\n\nDo these towels have a name in Japanese? If so, what wo... | [
{
"body": "I am not sure which one you are talking about, but hope it is one of these\nbelow. I doubt it is either of the first two, but 手拭い seems too long for what\nyou describe as \"a small towel\".\n\n> * タオル 'towel'\n> * ハンカチ 'handkerchief'\n> * 手拭い (tenugui) Similar to handkerchief, but longer\n> *... | 2057 | 2059 | 2059 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2155",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "これは漕ぎに来てくれるフラグ?\n\nI read that on twitter. This is the tweet, if it helps to make sense of it.\n\n自信…なくないです( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ笑RT @yamadamic: あらマオにゃん!これは漕ぎに来てくれるフラグ?（笑） RT @mao_sid:\n出勤時に聴いてましたよ（＾∇＾）RT @mizuuchitakeshi: 楽しかった(^O^)やまちゃんありがとう～汗だくだ…\n\nAll that I un... | [
{
"body": "`フラグ` started to be used recently as an internet slang. It means an 'advance\nhint', 'indication of something that will happen later', or 'some fact that\nwill make much sense when some other fact is revealed later'. It is woven into\nthe context intentionally (as in detective stories) or it happens ... | 2061 | 2155 | 2155 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2066",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "At first I thought ギャ meant girl, but after doing some googling, that doesn't\nappear to be what it is. What is シドギャ?\n\nシドギャ is related to the band シド, the most popular Visual Kei rock band in Japan\nfor all of you who don't know.",
"comment_count": 0... | [
{
"body": "シドギャ is short for シドギャル, so ギャ is indeed \"girl.\" シドギャ refers to (usually\nfemale) fans of シド (SID). A similar word is バンギャ (likewise short for バンギャル),\nwhich refers to (again usually female) fans of visual kei bands.",
"comment_count": 3,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_dat... | 2062 | 2066 | 2066 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2065",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I'm a bit confused regarding the choice between the 加 and 増 kanji for any\nmeaning related to \"adding one thing to another\".\n\nI assume that, as usual, the suru-verb combination 増加する is somewhat more\nformal than either of the other options.\n\nI was ... | [
{
"body": "## Words for Adding Things\n\nNote that there are actually many more suru-verb kanji combinations that mean\nthings similar to \"adding\" or \"growing,\" so I've only covered the two\nmentioned here.\n\n### 足す【たす】\n\nThis is used only for adding two things of the same type.\n\n> Example: なべに水を足す \"Ad... | 2063 | 2065 | 2065 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2071",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Saw this on twitter:\n\n> A: マオにゃん、シドギャの彼女が出来ない僕に一言くれたら幸いです ...\n>\n> B: 付き合った後に **染めちゃえ**\n\nWhat is 染めちゃえ here?",
"comment_count": 4,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-20T03:10:59.867",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "2... | [
{
"body": "Just an idea: Maybe it means that someone has been in contact with X for so\nlong that they have been influenced?\n\nLike a white shirt would get a bit blue if you wash it together with blue\nclothes. A metaphor that can be found in French with \"déteindre\".",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_li... | 2068 | 2071 | 2071 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2074",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "I think we all are familiar with する verbs, which are verbs that are formed by\nappending する to nouns. Examples include 勉強する, 愛する etc. This pattern is very\nconvenient because it can be appended to almost anything, such as ライクする (to\n'Like' a Facebook pos... | [
{
"body": "> How do we tell which つく that made up a particular つく verb\n\nYou can't. It's vocabulary, there's just no rule to decide one or the other.\nYou need to know their meaning. I would list them all here, but there are\nreally too many and each one of them would probably need special attention.\n\nEven k... | 2070 | 2074 | 2074 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2090",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I maintain a [flashcards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashcard) app (called\nAnkiDroid), it is open source so various users contributed the Japanese UI\nlocalization.\n\nUnfortunately, for the term \"flashcards deck\" (a file containing a number of\nca... | [
{
"body": "デッキ seems to be most often used in the sense of the first definition given [on\nWiktionary](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/deck):\n\n> Any flat surface that can be walked on: a balcony; a porch; a raised patio;\n> a flat rooftop.\n\n単語帳 describes what you're talking about perfectly.",
"comment_cou... | 2073 | 2090 | 2090 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2092",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "> **Related:** [Dissecting つく\n> verbs](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/2070/384)\n\nThere are many verbs which are pronounced つく, and I was simply wondering: **Do\ntheir intonation patterns differ?**\n\nIf so, **what are the intonation patterns of ... | [
{
"body": "The NHK pronunciation dictionary prescribes that:\n\n 1. 付く, 着く, （羽根を）撞く, （職に）就く, （嘘を）吐く, （位に）即く, （明かりが）点く, and （餅を）搗く all have the accent on the first or second mora (with first preferred: HL)\n 2. 突く has no accent (so in isolation it is LH, but note that this is not the same as accent-on-the-seco... | 2077 | 2092 | 2092 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2079",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "What does the interjection ぎゃほ mean?\n\nContext: \nA: We are mentioned in (famous newspaper) \nB: ぎゃほ！ かんどう＝＝＝＝３３３\n\nDoes it have the meaning of かんどう ? Or is it surprise, or something else?",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
... | [
{
"body": "\"ぎゃぼ\" is one of the unique interjections used by Noda Megumi (野田恵), the main\nprotagonist of the manga, anime and j-drama \"Nodame Cantabile\" (のだめカンタービレ)\nwhen she is surprised. She also uses \"むきゃ\" when irritated.\n\n",
"com... | 2078 | 2079 | 2079 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2084",
"answer_count": 4,
"body": "**_Warning:** We're all adults here, but just in case, this question may\ncontain words, in both Japanese and English, that some may not like to read._\n\nA long time ago, when I was working with a translator, a native Japanese\nspeaker, the term `気違い{きち... | [
{
"body": "Oh yes. From what I understand, Japan is _over_ zealous about keeping possibly\npolitically incorrect terms off the air; see the [Wikipedia\narticle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotobagari) on \"word-hunting\" which does\nindeed mention 気違い. See the main [Japanese Wikipedia\narticle](http://ja.wikip... | 2080 | 2084 | 2081 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2085",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "In all the anime and j-drama I have watched all these years, as far as I can\nremember, the only scenario where the greeting 「ごめんください」 is used is when the\ncharacters are in front of an ajar or open door of a house calling the\nresidents out, like 「ごめんくだ... | [
{
"body": "`ごめんください` is an idiomatic expression used to attract someone's attention when\nvisitng that person's place. It does not mean 'appology' + 'please give' any\nmore. Pretty much similar to your example but another variant is when you want\nsomething at a shop, and you don't see a shop clerk around, you ... | 2083 | 2085 | 2085 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2088",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "According to dictionaries, 「けど」 means ‘but’, ‘although’, ‘however’.\n\nHowever, it seems to have slightly another meaning at the end of the sentence.\nFor example, here are few example sentences with their approximate\ntranslations (correct me if I'm wro... | [
{
"body": "There is also `が`.\n\n> お話があるのですが\n\nIt is sort of a hedge (weakening). And I see the exact same thing in English.\nAre you a native English speaker? If so, you should have encountered these\nexpressions. I know a person who ends a sentence with `but`.\n\n> It's okay, but ... [Sentence ends without c... | 2086 | 2088 | 2088 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2098",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I have only found the ～ませ conjugation used in the following honorific verbs:\n\n 1. いらっしゃいませ\n 2. くださいませ\n 3. なさいませ\n\nCan the conjugation be applied to other honorific verbs, like おっしゃいませ or\nめしあがりませ?\n\nOr even common verbs, like がんばりませ or つづきませ?",
... | [
{
"body": "`ませ` is the imperative form of the polite `ます`.\n\nFor all of your examples, you cannot directly add `ませ`, but you can add\n`くださいませ`:\n\n> * おっしゃってくださいませ\n> * 召し上がってくださいませ\n> * 頑張ってくださいませ\n> * 続いてくださいませ\n>\n\nor `なさいませ`:\n\n> * おっしゃいなさいませ\n> * 召し上がりなさいませ\n> * 頑張りなさいませ\n> * 続きなさいませ\n>\... | 2097 | 2098 | 2098 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2156",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "As in \"some one who plays video games\". Could I just use ゲーマー?",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-21T09:47:38.810",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "2100",
"last_activity_date": "2021-03-16T19:09:5... | [
{
"body": "That's correct. ゲーマー is the word that is generally used.",
"comment_count": 3,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-21T09:53:04.367",
"id": "2101",
"last_activity_date": "2011-07-21T09:53:04.367",
"last_edit_date": null,
"last_editor_user_id": null,... | 2100 | 2156 | 2156 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2216",
"answer_count": 9,
"body": "_There were a lot of great answers here. I gave the checkmark to ento's answer\nbecause I felt it most completely explained all aspects of this use of こと. But\nmany of the other answers are excellent, so if you're visiting this question\nfor the first ti... | [
{
"body": "I wasn't entire sure, so I asked one of my language partners, who speaks\nJapanese natively. Her answer:\n\n\"Both are same,[sic] and there are no differences between them. Howerver,[sic]\nfor me あなたのことが好きだ sounds more natural!\"\n\nSo there you have it.",
"comment_count": 3,
"content_license... | 2102 | 2216 | 2216 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2112",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Some nouns take the 「ご」 prefix:\n\n> ご両親 {りょうしん} \n> ご家族 {かぞく} \n> ご無事 {ぶじ} \n> ご安心 {あんしん} \n> ご丁寧 {ていねい}\n\nWhile many others take the 「お」 prefix:\n\n> お母さん \n> お仕事 {しごと} \n> お月 {つき}さま \n> お家 {うち} \n> お客 {きゃく}\n\nIn general, what are the... | [
{
"body": "Most generally:\n\n * Words of Chinese (On-yomi) origin take ご\n * Words of Japanese (Kun-yomi) origin take お\n\nIf I recall correctly, there are also a very few chinese-origin words which\ntake お as they are very commonly used, but I can't think of any of these off\nthe top of my head.\n\n**Edit:*... | 2111 | 2112 | 2112 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2133",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I was wondering whether the differences in Japanese vocabulary between the\ndialects extend even so far as particles.\n\nAre there dialects that pronounce any of the standard particles differently?\nEspecially the grammatical (syntactic?) ones like は (wa... | [
{
"body": "Sure. Dialects can vary right down to the particles.\n\n * In Kansai-ben, there is a particle かて which does not appear in standard Japanese. It roughly means 〜ても, でも, さえ etc.\n * In Tohoku-ben, the particle さ is used instead of what in standard Japanese would be に or へ: 東京さ行ぐ, etc. \n * In some Na... | 2113 | 2133 | 2133 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2117",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "One of the most useful turns of phrase in Japanese is `ありがた迷惑{めいわく}`, which is\nthat of being helpful in a way that is not helpful. It can cover situations\nwhere one is being helpful to semi-deliberately cause guilt (Hi mom!), or\nsituations where the h... | [
{
"body": "ありがた迷惑 is not two separate words. It is one word, a compound noun. When you\nmake a compound noun like this in Japanese, you only use the stem of the\nadjective. The stem of ありがたい is ありがた, so this gets added to 迷惑 and you end up\nwith ありがた迷惑.\n\nHere are some similar examples of \"adjective stem + no... | 2114 | 2117 | 2117 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2129",
"answer_count": 4,
"body": "**_Warning:** This question contains words in both Japanese and English that\nsome might not want to read._\n\n**_Also:** My apologies that this question is lengthy. However, I wanted to\ntake care to express it properly._\n\nWhen I asked about [words th... | [
{
"body": "_Be advised that this post contains language which some may not find\nacceptable._\n\nI think the problem here is that the definition of \"swear word\" is not by any\nmeans static or universal. Is there a Japanese equivalent of \"shit\"? Well, in\nso many words, **not really** (though there may be wo... | 2118 | 2129 | 2119 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2122",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "While visiting Tokyo, I noticed that most levels were indicated by `B2F, B1F,\n1F, 2F`, ... .\n\nThis doesn't look like the Romaji for `-kai` or `-gai` counter-words, which I\nassume would be `chika ni-kai, chika ikkai, ikkai, ni-kai`, ... .\n\nIs it was... | [
{
"body": "This may be an answer to Derek's comment rather than to Andrew's original\nquestion.\n\nThey are commonly written on walls right in front of an elevator, stairs, or\nan escalator, or on elevator buttons. They stand for Basement 2nd Floor,\nBasement 1st Floor, 1st Floor, 2nd Floor, as Andrew wrote. In... | 2121 | 2122 | 2122 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2125",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "`**Part 1**`\n\nI understand **探す** to be **to search for something (general)**\n\nand **捜す** to be **to search for something lost**\n\nBut do people actually care about the difference in nuance when they use it?\n\nI mean do people use them interchangea... | [
{
"body": "Together with many other questions on this website tagged as 'homophonic-\nkanji', this is a case where in ancient Japanese when there was no writing\nsystem, there was no distinction among these words (i.e., they were a single\nword), but Chinese had finer distinction, and when Chinese characters we... | 2123 | 2125 | 2125 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2127",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "[WWWJDIC](http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-\nbin/wwwjdic.cgi?1MUE@nakanaka) defines なかなか (with negative verb) as **by no\nmeans**\n\nBut shouldn't it have been **considerably** ?\n\n**By no means** means 100% not\n\n**considerably** means like 85% ... | [
{
"body": "Elaborating on Amanda's comment, it is very often that one word in some\nlanguage has to be translated into two different words in another language\ndepending on the polarity (negation or affirmative) of the sentence. To give\nyou an example in English, consider the word `any`. In affirmative context... | 2124 | 2127 | 2127 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2131",
"answer_count": 4,
"body": "How can I greet a person in a manner similar to \"Nice to find you in here!\" (—\nmeaning meeting a friend by chance somewhere)?",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-22T20:15:39.893",
"favorite_count"... | [
{
"body": "The most common one is\n\n> 奇遇ですね。 \n> 'It's coincidental (as if it were planned).'\n\nbut it does not particularly mean you feel nice about it (nor does it mean it\nis bad). If you want to express that, you can just add the direct translation:\n\n> またお会いできてよかったです。 \n> 'I am happy to meet with yo... | 2130 | 2131 | 2134 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2138",
"answer_count": 4,
"body": "There are a few books with lists of words and kanji compounds found in the\nnews. Like [this one](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0804809194),\n[this one](http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4789012824), and [this\none](http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4757413... | [
{
"body": "It's not exactly what you were looking for, but would something like this be\nsatisfactory?\n\n<http://www.manythings.org/japanese/news/>\n\nHas an online quiz/flashcard Flash app for the most frequent words taken from\na newspaper.\n\nAs for the words themselves, you can get the frequency list and h... | 2136 | 2138 | 2138 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2142",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "What is the difference between Aが見える and Bを見る?\n\nIs there anything tricky about this?\n\nCan you illustrate with examples?",
"comment_count": 6,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-23T06:21:49.870",
"favorite_count": 0,
... | [
{
"body": "Aが見る A looks.\n\nBを見る Look at B.\n\nIn this case I believe が is marking the agent, or who is doing the action.\n(Looking). Where as を is marking the object of what is being looked at.\n\nAがBを見た A looked at B.\n\nEDIT\n\nFrom the comments it appears you meant what is the difference between\n\nAが見える an... | 2140 | 2142 | 2142 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "The \"Lonely Planet Tokyo\" iPhone app describes female sword fighting as a\nbygone form of male entertainment:\n\n> Surprisingly, striptease almost failed to catch on due to the popularity of\n> a rival form of risqué entertainment, namely female sword fi... | [
{
"body": "Perhaps [女剣劇](http://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%A5%B3%E5%89%A3%E5%8A%87)? It was\napparently popular in the early Showa period; does that correspond to \"at the\ntime\" in the part you quote?\n\n(How I found this: I figured that it would probably be a word for sword-\nfighting with \"female\" attached as a... | 2143 | null | 2154 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2146",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "I just noticed that Windows is using \"…をインストールしています\" while installing\nsomething. The use of \"〜います\" by a computer strikes me as slightly weird, like\ntoo literal a translation leading to overdone anthropomorphism. I often see\n\"インストール中\" or somethin... | [
{
"body": "I cannot speak for other people, but personally I find nothing wrong with\neither インストールしています or インストール中. In both cases, the unstated subject is the\ninstaller or the computer.\n\nOn the other hand, インストールされています, mentioned in a comment, sounds definitely\nunnatural and “translationese” to me if it is... | 2144 | 2146 | 2146 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Are there any websites that lists Japanese-language translation quotes of\nEnglish-language films? For example, how would I find out how `English,\nmother******, do you speak it?` from \"Pulp Fiction\" was translated?",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_lic... | [
{
"body": "Sawa's recommendation that you borrow or rent the movies and look these things\nup is the best one, because I seriously doubt there's a site that would offer\nwhat you're looking for as a matter of course.\n\nHowever, _just this once_ , because you caught me just at the right time, I'll\njust tell yo... | 2145 | null | 2149 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2150",
"answer_count": 4,
"body": "What changes are usually made to the pronunciation of gairaigo?\n\nI notice that vowels are often added between multiple consonants and to the\nend of words (eg \"programmer\" => \"puroguramaa\" (プログラマー)), and that sometimes\nmultiple words are turned in... | [
{
"body": "The following is just a few rules that may stand out.\n\nConsonants:\n\n * si => shi [Change happens not in kana writing but in pronunciation]\n\n> system => shisutemu システム\n\n * ti => chi [Change happens not in kana writing but in pronunciation]\n\n> ticket => chiketto チケット\n\n * l => r\n\n> rail... | 2147 | 2150 | 2150 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2152",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Saw this on twitter:\n\n@Daigo19780408 昨日はお疲れ様でした！おもぴろかったです♪( ´▽｀)\n\nWhat does おもぴろかった mean? I find words like this all over the place on the net,\nbut I can't figure out what it means, and I can't find it defined anywhere.",
"comment_count": 3,
"co... | [
{
"body": "Changing the consonant 's' (or 'sh' derived from it) into 'p' is sort of a\ndiminutive. It gives the impression of cuteness/childishness. So the original\nform is `おもしろかった`. An English equivalent would be saying `doggie` for 'dog',\netc. These forms are not at all the standard way of talking. A famou... | 2151 | 2152 | 2152 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2158",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Trying to understand this tweet:\n\n日曜日は掃除の日。新しく買った掃除機が良すぎる！忙しいと週一とかになりがちな掃除機がけも、これでマメにやれそう♪(\n´▽｀)ルンバと迷ったけどこっちにしてよかった！やっぱり掃除は自分でしたいしね。\n\nI understood everything up to 週一. What does that sentence say?",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-... | [
{
"body": "週一 is a shorthand for 週一回, which means \"once per week\".",
"comment_count": 2,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-24T07:59:18.607",
"id": "2158",
"last_activity_date": "2011-07-24T07:59:18.607",
"last_edit_date": null,
"last_editor_user_id": null... | 2157 | 2158 | 2158 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2162",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji#History), kanji\nwas introduced and imported from chinese hanzi long time ago before Japanese\nlanguage even had a writing system. From there, Japanese kanji has transformed\nand evolved from th... | [
{
"body": "When the caretaker registers a new born child at a local government, the name\nis submitted in handwritten form, and, until recent, that character became\nofficial even if there is a mistake such as missing or extra stroke, etc.\nTherefore, every time someone makes a mistake previously not made, that... | 2159 | 2162 | 2163 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2165",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "in \"明日、姉とデパート＿買い物に行きます。\" why is へ favoured over で in my workbook? If i ask\nmyself the question \"明日は、何をする\" Can i answer it with \"買い物に行く\" and make ”デパート”\nan incidental location? That was how i justified my choice of \"で\"\n\nTo justify the choice o... | [
{
"body": "> * デパートへ買い物に行きます\n> * デパートに買い物に行きます\n>\n\nare both grammatical with subtle difference in nuance, but using `で` is\ntotally ungrammatical. It is not the level of 'favoring over'. In your\nexample, `買い物に` is an adverbial phrase telling the purpose, so the core\npredicate is `行く` 'go'. That require... | 2164 | 2165 | 2165 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2167",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "Me and the particle `へ` don't get along. It's not that we don't like each\nother, it's that we don't get each other. I'm in a pretty committed\nrelationship with `に`.\n\nI mean, I think I understand what `へ` aspires to do. `へ` is focused on the\nprocess ... | [
{
"body": "Using `に` in front of `の` to modify a noun is ungrammatical.\n\n> ○ あの場所への行き方 \n> × あの場所にの行き方 \n> 'the way to go to that place'\n\nIf you are not modifying a noun, you can use either.\n\n> ○ あの場所へ行く方法 \n> ○ あの場所に行く方法 \n>\n\nTo answer rintaun's question below, when the noun is more of a recipie... | 2166 | 2167 | 2167 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2170",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I find this all over the net, but can't find it defined anywhere.\n\nI'm trying to understand this tweet:\n\nじゃあ二周目は是非モノマネで♪( ´▽｀)RT @mimiroll_410: @mao_sid\n今友達とカラオケに入ってるシドの曲を五十音順に全部制覇しようとしてます！(笑)ちなみに今は土曜日の女です＼(^O^)／\n\nWhat does the first sentence say?... | [
{
"body": "目 is used as an _ordinal_ suffix. ~~It's the difference between \"2 weeks\" and\n(like in this case) \"the 2 **nd** week\".~~\n\n**Edit:** Sorry for failing so blatantly. :( Updated answer, now with less\nobvious errors!:\n\nSo in this case, Mao is suggesting that \"the second _round_ \" be Sid\nimpe... | 2169 | 2170 | 2170 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2173",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "Saw this on twitter:\n\nMC挟んでいいなら♪( ´▽｀)RT @miri_sid: @mao_sid マオくんは全曲連続で歌えますか？(^-^)\n\nCan't find the Japanese definition of MC anywhere. What does that say?",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-24T22:... | [
{
"body": "`MC` in Japanese nowadays most commonly means a talk (by a singer) in between\nsongs at a (pop) concert. It is a 和製英語 (wasei-eigo) under this meaning. It\nseems to have derived from the phrase 'master of ceremony'. In a broader\ncontext, it simply means a talk at some event.",
"comment_count": 7,... | 2172 | 2173 | 2173 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I've encountered this word several times already but never really knew what it\nmeant. Then I just saw this on twitter:\n\n> タモリさん、今日服装が **ダンディー** 。\n\nWhat is a ダンディー? What kind of clothes does a ダンディー wear?\n\nCan someone explain to me how you would be a... | [
{
"body": "As you have it in the quote, it is `ダンディー`. You have a typo. But since you are\ndoing the same mistake three times, it looks like you are a little careless.\nIt is a borrowed from the English 'dandy'. Dandy wear is gentleman clothing,\ntypically in black. タモリさん is one of the big three male talents/co... | 2176 | null | 2177 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2180",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Saw this on twitter:\n\n> A: 懐い\n>\n> B: そういえば私がマオさんの唄初めて聞いたのwinter\n> fallでした。サンタさんでしたね（笑）あの日の衝撃は未だに忘れられないなー「歌うますぎ！この人誰！？」ってみんな言ってましたよ。懐かしい。",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-25T04:32:51.800",
"fa... | [
{
"body": "`懐い` is a slang for `懐かしい`. It is a kind of nostalgia/sentimental feeling that\noccurs when you remember the past or encounter something that reminds you of\nthe past.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-25T04:41:19.953",
"id": "2180",
... | 2179 | 2180 | 2180 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2182",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "> A: 他にもラルクコピーしてましたか？\n>\n> B: じゃあ最後にもう一度聴いてくれ…虹。ってやってた\n\nI know that ラルク is the band L'arc En Ciel. What does **コピー** mean here? What\ndoes the first sentence say?",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07... | [
{
"body": "`コピー` 'copy' in this context means to play a song of a band in the format as\nclose as possible to the original. Often, you reconstruct the music score by\nlistening to that song. If it is done in this way, it is particularly called\n`耳コピー` 'copying by ear'.\n\n`じゃあ最後にもう一度聴いてくれ ... 虹。` means 'Then, p... | 2181 | 2182 | 2182 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2187",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "How do I form a sentence of these patterns \"X does not arise from Y\", \"X not\ndue to Y\", \"X not because of Y\", \"There are other reasons for X\". Since\nobviously I cannot simply slap ない onto から or ので to form an \"anti-causal\"\nparticle.\n\nWould ... | [
{
"body": "I think that \"Yと関係なく、Xは…\" is a fairly common expression.\n\nYou could naturally said \"Xの原因はYではなく、\" but you would have to say what the real\nreason is.\n\nXの原因はYとは限らない is maybe not bad either, to express that the reason of X is not\nlimited to Y.\n\nXの原因はYじゃない good, but very direct. You'll be aske... | 2184 | 2187 | 2186 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2194",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "> 子{こ}たる者{もの}すべからく親{おや}の命{めい}に従{したが}うべし。\n>\n> Children should obey their parents\n\nWhat I got from ALC is that a child isn't fit, unqualified, to be one's child\nif it disobeys its parents. Or is it just \"Those **who are** children...\"?",
"comment_... | [
{
"body": "Your translation is right. `たる` is the classic form of the copula `である`. `子たる`\nis is a relative clause. So `子たる者` means 'whoever is a child'.",
"comment_count": 2,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-25T19:47:15.853",
"id": "2192",
"last_activity_date": "... | 2191 | 2194 | 2192 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I work in an American subsidiary of a Japanese company. I met a few Japanese\ncolleagues while working at the home office on an exchange. Do I need to use\nKeigo for:\n\nColleague A: 1 year younger in age than me and joined the company at a later\ntime. It... | [
{
"body": "I think in general you are safe using plain form with people in your group who\nare younger than you and in lower position (usually the same at a Japanese\ncompany though).\n\nthe tricky part is someone who is younger than you in a different dpt. I would\njust use Teine-go which is what desu/masu can... | 2195 | null | 2196 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2199",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "Consider the statement A: ホテル（に/で）泊まる. For both cases would translate to \"I\nstay at a hotel\" in English. However they are answers to different questions.\n\nConsider the questions １．どこに泊まる and ２．（ホテルで）何をする\n\nQuestion 1 would be answered with ホテルに（泊まる... | [
{
"body": "The opposition is not \"what\" vs. \"where\" or action vs. location. It is whether\nthat phrase is an indispensible part that follows from the meaning of the\npredicate, or an optional part without which the predicate will still make\nsense. When you say `ホテルに泊まる`, `ホテルに` is not simply expressing the... | 2197 | 2199 | 2199 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2239",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "In English, there is a certain etiquette to follow when writing a business\nletter. From what I've seen so far, the same seems to be true in Japanese as\nwell.\n\nIf I was making a business-related request to someone who has helped me a lot\nin the past,... | [
{
"body": "> はじめまして \n> 'This is the first time seeing you'\n\nis a standard expression.\n\nIf that person is in the same company, regardless of the department, you can\ncontinue as\n\n> ...部門の...と申します \n> 'I am called ..., and am from the ... department'\n\nIt is more polite than\n\n> ...部門の...です \n> 'I a... | 2198 | 2239 | 2239 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2217",
"answer_count": 4,
"body": "Following the current trend of pitting the particles に and で against each\nother, here is another question that does the same but from another type of\nusage and perspective.\n\nWhen we want to say \"do X before Y\", we use \"Y 前に X\":\n\n> 食べる前に「いただきます」... | [
{
"body": "I always consider this kind of で as the suspensive form of です. So, I would\nread the second sentence as \"It is the time after lunch; we say\ngotisousamadesita\".\n\nAs for why it sounds more natural with 後 than with 前, I have no idea.",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
... | 2201 | 2217 | 2217 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2203",
"answer_count": 4,
"body": "I just encountered the phrase 「男前な女」in the book I am reading. When I looked up\n男前, it was defined as \"good looks in a man,\" much like \"handsome\" in English.\nWhat does it mean when used to describe a woman?\n\nHere is the context:\n\n> もし、兄の連絡を受けるよう... | [
{
"body": "A definition I found for 男前 is a bit different from what you (and I)\noriginally expected： 男らしい顔つきや態度。男振りのよいこと。\n\nSo, I guess that this girl may behave a bit like a tomboy, or maybe show too\nmuch assurance.\n\nEdit: after a quick survey around me (corpus size: two persons), 男前な女 is\neither neutral ... | 2202 | 2203 | 2214 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2218",
"answer_count": 4,
"body": "I noticed that the 前 is a handy kanji character in Japanese language. It is\nused in many words including but not limited to:\n\n> 名前 {なまえ} : Given name\n>\n> 手前, お前 : You\n>\n> [当]{あ}たり[前]{まえ} : Natural, obvious matter\n>\n> 出前 : Meal delivery\n>\n> [建]... | [
{
"body": "Random suggestions regarding meanings:\n\n名前: how about _forename_? \n手前, お前 : You, who stand _in front of me_ \n当たり前: an explication is a reading from misspelled \"当然\" \n出前: Goes out, up to your _front_ door \n建て前: Really a facade, like that of a building, isn't it? \n板前: in front of the cooki... | 2207 | 2218 | 2223 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2226",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "my dictionary shows both 随分 and なかなか (with positive verb) as\n**\"very/considerably\"**\n\nI was wondering is it true that 随分 is of a higher _degree_ than なかなか?\n\nLike\n\n> あんた **なかなか** 勇敢だな。= 75%\n\nand\n\n> あんた **随分** 勇敢だな。 = 85%?",
"comment_count":... | [
{
"body": "Yes. `なかなか` means mildly, moderately. The origin is `中中`, 'middle-middle'. It\nis lower in degree than `随分`.\n\n* * *\n\nBelow is slightly technical.\n\nElaborating on rintaun's point, `なかなか` has another usage: used with a negative\nexpression. There are words that can be only used within negative en... | 2220 | 2226 | 2226 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2227",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "I've heard people using あした (the common one) and あす (rather uncommon) to refer\nto \"tomorrow\".\n\nI was wondering does anyone actually uses the reading みょうにち ?",
"comment_count": 2,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-26T... | [
{
"body": "Sometimes old people do. I don't know why, but maybe they feel uncomfortable\nwith 熟字訓読み as in あした or あす, where the portion of the pronunciation of a word\ndoes not match each kanji character.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-26T19:38:40.8... | 2221 | 2227 | 2227 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2224",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "In English:\n\n * a burglar is usually associated with someone who breaks into a house (victim is usually unaware during the burglary)\n\n * a robber is usually associated with that person who uses weapons and threatens you to give him your property (v... | [
{
"body": "In this particular case, I can see quite straghtforward correspondence between\nEnglish and Japanese. But `泥棒` is also the cover term that can be used to\nwidely refer to all of these.\n\n> * 空き巣 'burglar'\n> * 強盗 'robber'\n> * 泥棒 'mugger'\n> * 盗人 'thief'\n> * スリ 'pickpocket'\n> * ハンバーグラー... | 2222 | 2224 | 2224 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2230",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "Today I heard 人形がいる, so I googled around because I thought 居る was only for\nliving things, but I found many examples of this usage. Many for 人形がある as\nwell.\n\nAre there other exceptions for いる／ある？",
"comment_count": 2,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3... | [
{
"body": "One such exception is that Taxis get いる.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-27T00:41:24.557",
"id": "2229",
"last_activity_date": "2011-07-27T00:41:24.557",
"last_edit_date": null,
"last_editor_user_id": null,
"owner_user... | 2228 | 2230 | 2230 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2241",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I've been listening songs and anime dialogues that end sentences with ～もの or\neven cuter version ～もん for so long that I am able to see how the word denotes\nreasons or excuses like:\n\n> おなか空{す}いた **もん** (when the character was asked why she finished the... | [
{
"body": "Because it's not the noun もの, but a grammatical final particle on its own. You\ndo say \"お腹が空いたから\" and \"好きだから\" with particle \"から\" don't you? It's the same\nthing here!",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-27T09:34:57.627",
"id": "2241... | 2240 | 2241 | 2241 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2243",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I've seen this phrase a couple of times but couldn't read the Kanji so I don't\nremember it.\n\nOtherwise, what phrase would be good to include in the last slide to imply\n\"Thanks for listening!\"?\n\nFor example, after giving a presentation about proje... | [
{
"body": "I think the most common one around is `ご清聴ありがとうございました`.",
"comment_count": 4,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-27T13:00:26.450",
"id": "2243",
"last_activity_date": "2011-07-27T13:00:26.450",
"last_edit_date": null,
"last_editor_user_id": null,
... | 2242 | 2243 | 2243 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2245",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I am at present rigorously studying 擬音語／擬態語 (an _entire_ world of its own!).\n\nThe definition my book has for ぼちぼち (also ぼつぼつ) is:\n\n```\n\n 1. Gradually; slowly but steadily\n 2. Used to describe something that is about to happen. Imminently. ... | [
{
"body": "Usage 1: I think this usage has sort of Kansai dialect flavour, although it\ncan still be used in Tokyo dialect. While どんどん and だんだん have the implication\nthat it is straightforwardly going towards one direction on the scale, ほちほち\nimplies that some kind of force against it or brake is in effect, or ... | 2244 | 2245 | 2245 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2251",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "From WWWJDIC:\n\n> 愛 【あい】 (n,n-suf) (See 愛する) love; affection;\n>\n> 恋 【こい】 (n) love; tender passion;\n\nMy understanding on affection, love and tender passion is like the following:\n\n> affection < love < tender passion\n\nIf I may line up all three in... | [
{
"body": "It is the other way. On the scale, `愛` is stronger than `恋`. Besides that, `愛`\ncan be used generally, including the kind of love that Christianity talks\nabout, or the love in between a family. `恋` is only for relations/feelings\ntoward a person of the targetted sexual orientation.\n\nAs for the mea... | 2246 | 2251 | 2251 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I'm trying to figure out what \"こと” is referring to in this idiom/grammar\npoint.\n\nIn the following example sentence:\n\n彼は若いころから日本に住んでいただけのことはあって、さすが日本語がうまいんだね。\n\nWhat does koto refer to here?\n\nAdditionally, is this perfectly interchangeable with だけあ... | [
{
"body": "I think `こと` just refers to the general situation, and does not refer to some\nparticular thing. A close English analogue may be `the case` as in `It is the\ncase that he was living in Japan`. Your two sentences with and without `こと`\nare interchangeable.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_licens... | 2248 | null | 2249 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2258",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "The is a certain way of talking where you can end just about anything you say\nin わけ.\n\nWhat is the sentence structure for this way of talking?",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-27T18:05:44.897",
... | [
{
"body": "`わけ` is a noun meaning 'reason', but it might be better translated as\n'circumstances' as Matt comments. When you put it at the end of a sentence,\nyou are turning that sentence into an appositive clause modifying わけ. When the\npredicate is an adjectival noun (also called na-adjective), you need to c... | 2250 | 2258 | 2258 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2254",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "What does バタバタ mean?\n\n> コラム書かなきゃ。映像チェックしなきゃ。アレも書かなきゃ。アレも考えなきゃ。 **バタバタバタ** 子さん(´･_･`)\n\nEverything make sense to me except for the last part.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-27T19:28:30.113",
"... | [
{
"body": "`バタバタ` is an onomatopoeia expressing busyness. Usually, a Japanese\nonomatopoeia repeats a two-mora part (like `バタ`) twice, four morae in total,\nbut here, it is repeated thrice.",
"comment_count": 6,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-27T19:41:54.517",
"id":... | 2253 | 2254 | 2254 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2256",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "When asking, \"which is better,\" in Japanese, I could write どっちがマシ？\n\nHowever マシ has a negative connotation, implying that even though something is\nbetter it's still undesirable.\n\nWhat's a word like マシ that I could use when asking \"which is better?... | [
{
"body": "You can say\n\n> どちらがよい? \n> どっちがいい? [Colloquial]\n\nwithout negative connotation. Or, if you want to imply that both are good, and\nwant to ask `Which is even better?`\n\n> どちらがよりよい? \n> どっちがよりいい? [Colloquial]",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": ... | 2255 | 2256 | 2256 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2262",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "How are とても/とっても, でかい/でっかい, 超 (and others that I have yet to encounter) used\ndifferently? I figured that for とても/とっても-type difference is that the double-\nconsonant(geminated) version is stronger i.e. a greater intensity and used\ncolloquially.\n\nI've ... | [
{
"body": "As you notice, the ones with gemination are colloquial versions, and do not\nhave particular difference in meaning besides being unformal. However, if you\nuse it together with a long vowel, that will further intensify the expression.\nFor example, `でーっかい` will be very colloquial and stronger than `で... | 2261 | 2262 | 2262 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2264",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "What's the difference between ◯◯ **を** 掃除 and ◯◯ **に** 掃除？\n\nTrying to understand the following, which using \"に\"\n\n> 引き続き執筆。合間のリフレッシュ **に** 掃除",
"comment_count": 4,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-28T14:12:25.187",
... | [
{
"body": "I suppose you meant `掃除する`.\n\nIn `部屋を掃除する`, `部屋` is the object to be cleaned.\n\nThere can be sources of a `...に` phrase that are **not directly relevant** to\nthis predicate:\n\n * Time: `3時に掃除する`\n * The subject of a causative: `その人に掃除させる`\n * An adverbial phrase expressing the purpose (can be ... | 2263 | 2264 | 2264 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2269",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "Sometimes I've seen ド as a prefix that adds emphasis to words. So saying\nsomeone is ドバカ is saying that they are much more stupid than just バカ.\n\nI'm wondering what the origin of ド in this context is. Does it come from 度\n【ど】(\"degree\"), as in, \"the d... | [
{
"body": "Don't know if it's always from the kanji 度 or not. However, of the few\nexamples I found, there was `ど真ん中` (straight down the middle), so there is at\nleast one situation where it's not negative.\n\nAnd here's [the definition from\n大辞泉](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/154704/m0u/):\n\n> # ど\n```... | 2267 | 2269 | 2269 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2271",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I'm trying to understand the following:\n\n> 後輩にサイフを開かせることはないよ\n\nI guess this could be generalized as AにBをCさせる.\n\nIt's confusing. Maybe if someone can break down how to understand this and\nthen I can memorize it.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_lic... | [
{
"body": "Usually, you have a sentence like:\n\n> 後輩がサイフを開く \n> koohai ga saihu wo hirak-u \n> 'the junior opens the wallet'\n\nwhere the subject takes `が` and the object takes `を`.\n\nThere is a morpheme `-(s)ase-` 'let', 'make' that expresses causative. The way\nyou use it is that you embed the sentence,... | 2270 | 2271 | 2271 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2273",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I'm trying to understand this:\n\n賞品？おそらく！リナちゃん.....私の後ろの笑い声輝くんがたくさんで黙らせ\n\nThe last word, 黙らせ, is confusing. Is this a combination of different forms?",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-28T19:38:55.... | [
{
"body": "`黙らせる` is the causative form of the verb `黙る`. See [my explanation to your\nprevious question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/2270/) for the\nmeaning of the causative `-(s)ase-`\n\n> damar-u [Original form] \n> BeQuiet-NonPast \n>\n>\n> damar- **ase** -ru [Causative] \n> BeQuiet-Ca... | 2272 | 2273 | 2273 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2284",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "According to my dictionary, both `照{て}れる` and `照{て}れてる` mean to be shy, or be\nawkward.\n\nI don't _think_ one is a different verb form of the other. The `て`+`いる` form\nof `照れる` would be `照れている`, not `照れてる`.\n\nSo I think they're different words, but do ... | [
{
"body": "As Lukman comments, `照れてる` is simply a contracted form of `照れている`. `て + いる`\ncan be used to mean either or both\n\n * Progressive (as in English `be ~-ing`)\n * Perfect (as in English `have ~-en`)\n\ndepending on the verb. In this case, `照れる` will mean that the person generally\ngets shy; not that ... | 2277 | 2284 | 2284 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2294",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "One of my coworkers todays said something like:\n\n> \"Today I have too many 割り込みタスク so I cannot pay too much attention to this\n> project\"\n\nLiterally translating it into \"interrupting tasks\" sounds rather vague, so how\nwould a 割り込みタスク be defined?"... | [
{
"body": "That's sound like\n\n> \"I have got too many urgent tasks for today, so I cannot pay attention to\n> this project\"",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-29T06:28:58.667",
"id": "2280",
"last_activity_date": "2011-07-29T06:28:58.667",
... | 2278 | 2294 | 2294 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2335",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "**_Update:** There seems to be some controversy here as to whether or not\nthere really is a difference between vouching and guaranteeing, which impacts\nhow it is translated. Please see the discussion I started on [English\nL&U](https://english.stackexc... | [
{
"body": "Let me start by thinking about the difference between vouching and\nguaranteeing. If I understand what you're saying right, you mean something\nlike: if I lend a guy a guitar because you vouch for him as a reliable guy,\nand he breaks it and won't replace it, I'm SOL, because I have no right to\nexpe... | 2279 | 2335 | 2335 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2527",
"answer_count": 8,
"body": "I am looking for terms in the Japanese language which can describe the act of\nflirting in a positive light. This probably requires inventing terms to close\na [lexical gap](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexical_gap), because as far as I\nknow, all terms ... | [
{
"body": "Since no-one else has answered, let me try to chip away at the edges a bit.\nDisclaimer: I am not a native speaker, not young, not single, and not even an\nex-player, so my intuitions might be quite far from those of hip young\nTokyoites.\n\nThere is the phrase 良い雰囲気になる. It literally translates to so... | 2281 | 2527 | 2323 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Does Aに助かりました mean that you were saved from A, or you were saved by A?",
"comment_count": 4,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-29T07:40:45.843",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "2283",
"last_activity_date": "2011-12-27T05:... | [
{
"body": "助かる is an intransitive verb which means \"to be saved\".\n\nAに助かりました would mean \"At the point of time/space of A, you were saved.(No agent\nis implied in the statement. It just means you were saved)\"\n\nMuch like 窓が開く, it would mean \"the window opens\" without implying any agent.\n\nThen consider ... | 2283 | null | 2287 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2458",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "_EDIT: Started a bounty with hope of getting more definitive and elaborate\nanswers, e.g. timeline of when color names started being used in Japan._\n\nIn Japanese language, there are colors that are i-adjectives: 青い, 赤い, 黒い, 白い\netc.\n\nThen there are c... | [
{
"body": "There is a study by Berlin and Kay that colors are scaled from the basic ones\nto the advanced ones. The more basic, the more likely that it will have a\nmono-morphemic word representing it in a language. There is also an\nimplication relation: 'If language _A_ has a mono-morphemic color term _W_ ,\n... | 2288 | 2458 | 2458 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2297",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "What does する mean when it does not mean \"do\"?\n\nLike:\n\n> あなたも血のにおいが **する** な",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-29T09:27:48.023",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "2289",
"last_activity_date": "2... | [
{
"body": "する does not actually mean \"do\". It's much more generic than that. \"to do\" is\njust one way it parses into English.\n\nFor your sentence あなたも血のにおいがするな. It would mean \"I smell blood on you too\"\n\nする in this sense takes on the meaning \"to perceive non-visually\"\n\n[Summarising from\nnihongoreso... | 2289 | 2297 | 2297 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2301",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "What is the differences in nuances between とうとう and やっと?\n\nis it true that やっと has a more \"happy\" feeling attached to it?",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-29T09:33:12.753",
"favorite_count": 0,... | [
{
"body": "> Toto is crucially different from yatto in that the former often indicates a\n> negative situation that came about spontaneously, but the latter indicates a\n> positive situation that has been realized with the greatest efforts. {From\n> intermediate dictionary on Japanese grammar pg 530}\n\nso it s... | 2291 | 2301 | 2301 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2302",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "Does anyone know of any o-words or go-words which are absolutely neutral (have\nno nuances of being polite / courteous / respectful / womanly / cute etc etc)?\n\nThe only ones I'm aware of currently is おちゃ and ごはん\n\n**Update**\n\nDoes anyone know of any... | [
{
"body": "お冷{ひや} for a \"cold drink of water\", at a restaurant, is one.\n\nAs an updated answer to your updated question, お冷 doesn't become a different\nword or a non-word if the お is omitted. I don't think that circumstance\nexists.\n\nHowever, having wondered myself if 冷, by itself, would be understood in a... | 2292 | 2302 | 2302 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2296",
"answer_count": 4,
"body": "If you want to say \"things like\" you can use とか、など、and し。\n\nWhat if you don't want to list out several things. You want to say, \"things\nlike A.\" Then what do you do?",
"comment_count": 2,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2... | [
{
"body": "Amongst とか, など, and し, I feel only など satisfies the specific role you're\ntalking about.\n\nThere's no rule that says など must be affixed only after 2 or more examples.\n\n> E.g. この難しいこと、私などには出来ません。 \"A person like me cannot do a difficult thing as\n> this\".\n\nThe more related examples you string be... | 2293 | 2296 | 2296 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2314",
"answer_count": 4,
"body": "What is the correct construction of \"unsolvable problem\"? Is it\n\"解{と}けられない問題{もんだい}\"？ **(Question 1)**\n\n> Plain(intransitive): 解{と}ける \"To be solved\".\n>\n> Potential form(of intransitive): 解けられる \"can be solved\".\n>\n> Potential + Negated(of int... | [
{
"body": "There is no such thing as intransitive form of `解ける` used in the sense as in\n`解ける問題`. `解けられる` and `解けられない` are ungrammatical. The three forms that you have\nunder the transitive version are the correct one.\n\nTo answer Question 3, They are just a single usage. If the subject is implicit\nand is to ... | 2303 | 2314 | 2314 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2315",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "_Note: This question may contain wordings that may be considered rude to some,\nso proceed with open mind and caution._\n\nOne of the legacies of Japanese colonization in my country during WW2 is a\nrude slang name-calling word \"bagero\" which roughly m... | [
{
"body": "I have no evidence, but I guess what you think is right. [This person (be\ncareful with the link; the back button does not\nwork)](http://shiekoreto1.blogspot.com/2006/11/bagero.html) is saying the same\nthing. 'Kuntoroyo' sounds close to `この野郎` (kono yaroo) 'You bastard!' to me.",
"comment_count... | 2308 | 2315 | 2309 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2319",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "In\n\n> (1) 明日、家へ帰って、母が作ったおいしい料理を食べます。\n\nwhy is it `作った` when it’s a future event? If I wanted to create a clause\nmeaning 'delicious food my mother makes', it would be `母が作るおいしい料理`. Does\nchanging `作った` in (1) to `作る` make any sense? Or is it grammatic... | [
{
"body": "Isn't that, \"Tomorrow, I return home and eat the delicious food my mother\nmade.\" ? In English, it's past-tense, too. If she was making the food still,\nyou could use 作る instead.\n\nAlso, if you're thinking of it as the food she has historically made, I could\nsee it making sense in both languages,... | 2317 | 2319 | 2319 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "Many things that seem normal in English look arrogant in Japanese. I think I\nfound a special case where the reverse is true. In Japanese is it normal to\nspeak in the third person when referring to oneself? I have seen this done\nbefore on Twitter.\n\nWha... | [
{
"body": "A young girl can use her first name to refer to herself in informal\nsituations. And this gives the impression of acting cutesy. There's no rule\nthat says it's only limited to girls, but statistically speaking this method\nof self-address is more common in girls than boys, men, or even women.",
... | 2320 | null | 2324 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "One of the people I follow on twitter sometimes ends his sentences in ぞと. Is\nthis just a more polite form of ぞ？\n\nHere's an example:\n\n> ブログUPしましたぞと♪(´ε｀ )",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-30T12:55... | [
{
"body": "I would split the example sentence into two parts:\n\n> ブログUPしましたぞ / と\n\nUnfortunately, I cannot explain how the と affects the other part well, but as\nfar as I can say as a Japanese, the と is a kind of like an interjection and\nits effect is vanishingly small, at least not making the sentence more ... | 2326 | null | 2373 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2329",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I've heard that we can usually omit nouns and stuff like that, but can we\nactually omit verbs or must they still be there?\n\nExample sentence: アイツ帰るなり、すぐに部屋にな～\n\n**Edit**\n\nCan we omit verbs in the main sentence clause when speaking casually?\n\nExam... | [
{
"body": "Yes.\n\nThe kind of thing you are talking about is quite common. The verb can be\ndropped when it is well understood what the assumed action would be.\n\nSo in your example, it says `「部屋{へや}に」`, \"to the room\". Note that \"room\" in\nJapanese often stands in for \"apartment\", or some understood loc... | 2327 | 2329 | 2329 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2367",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "This question is based on the discussion arising from [\"Unsolvable\nProblem\"](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/2303/unsolvable-\nproblem)\n\n* * *\n\nStart of Excerpt\n\n* * *\n\nRelevant discourse extracted from \"Unsolvable Problem\":\n\n... | [
{
"body": "**1** When you're walking and your shoelaces come undone, they appear to do\nthat on their own. 靴ひもがほどける does not mean that someone unties them, but that\nthey \"untie themselves\". The meaning is closer to an intransitive active than\nto a passive; therefore にくい is appropriate. On the other hand, 問題... | 2328 | 2367 | 2367 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I know it is some form of する。The context is this tweet:\n\nいいえ！無視は **しちゃい** けませんな(^-^)/気持ちは受け取って♪(´ε｀ )RT @PuyoPuyoStar: @shinji_sid\nすみません。先程ツイート送ったんですが、「無理してはいけません」と書きたかったところ、「無視してはいけません」と書いてしまいました。本当すみませ",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC ... | [
{
"body": "I think you're just misreading the the sentence slightly - it should be split\nas:\n\n```\n\n 無視は しちゃ いけませんな\n \n It's bad to ignore it, right?\n \n```\n\nしちゃ is a shortened form of しては, as far as I remember. In this particular case\nit seems to me an odd sentence, purely because of t... | 2330 | null | 2332 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "The context is this tweet:\n\n> **セットリストに適当** ！って書いてます。笑\n\nI could understand more easily if は was used instead of に. How does に change\nthe meaning?\n\nDoes an inference have to be made here to understand what is appropriate?",
"comment_count": 1,
"c... | [
{
"body": "`に` means that the action is being directed at the subject in question. `は`\nmeans... well, `は` is defined as a \"topic marker\", but trying to really define\nits usage is a whole topic of its own.\n\nAnyway, `適当【てきとう】` in this context means \"flippant\", and so the speaker is\nbeing flippant _toward... | 2331 | null | 2343 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2334",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I've seen this in several places. Is that a set phrase? What does that mean?\n\nI know that it's a way of saying \"Goodnight,\" but the NASA胃 doesn't make\nsense.",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-30... | [
{
"body": "胃 is read い and NASA reads \"なさ\" so what this actually says is おやすみなさい (\"Good\nnight\"). However, I don't know wether this is a typo or an intentional\nmisspelling.",
"comment_count": 6,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-30T19:56:34.153",
"id": "2334",
... | 2333 | 2334 | 2334 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2361",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "There is a line in the 「この涙 星になれ」, which is a song of ZARD (Sakai Izumi):\n\n> 父なる砂漠 コイン投げて 明日を占おう\n\nI don't understand the meaning of 「父なる砂漠」. It's quite strange to think of it\nas the desert that has been a father...\n\n坂井泉水の大ファンなんです。今歌詞を整理しているので、理解出来... | [
{
"body": "It does not say it has been a father. It says it is the father. Vast natural\nthings like sea, earth, desert, universe, etc. are often metaphorically\nexpressed as mother, father, the ancestors, or the homeland of human.\n\n> * 母なる大地 \n> 'Earth, the mother of human'\n> * 父なる砂漠 \n> 'Desert, th... | 2336 | 2361 | 2361 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2341",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "What's the meaning of すます in 耳をすませば?\n\nHow would you translate this?",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-31T02:03:03.063",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "2337",
"last_activity_date": "2016-01-17T19... | [
{
"body": "It is difficult to translate `すます` alone in this context. `耳をすます` is an idiom\nmeaning 'pay attention to any slight sound'",
"comment_count": 2,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-31T02:12:38.153",
"id": "2340",
"last_activity_date": "2011-07-31T02:12:38.... | 2337 | 2341 | 2341 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2347",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I was recently trying to make an **open-ended** enumeration of places in a\nconstruction that would require the use of a に particle. E.g.:\n\n> AやBに行こう\n\nor even:\n\n> A[and the like]に行こう\n\nPreferably using a stronger indicator of open-endedness, such ... | [
{
"body": "A particle normally follows `など`.\n\n`を` and `に` are marked as optional (my dictionary puts them in parenthesis).\n\n> For tools: フォークやスプーンなど`で`食べる人もいる。 \"There are also people who eat it with\n> things like forks and spoons.\"\n>\n> For places: 夏休みはXやYなど(に)行きましょうか。\"Shall we go to places like X or Y... | 2346 | 2347 | 2359 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2355",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "This is a question taken from a JLPT excercise workbook.\n\n> Person A: 新聞をよく読みますか。\n>\n> Person B: そうですね。毎日は[Fill in this blank]。\n\nI am given 4 choices, of which only 2 are conjugated correctly.\n\n> Choice 1: 読みます\n>\n> Choice 2: 読みません\n\nTo me it se... | [
{
"body": "This is a classic JLPT tricky question.\n\nThe presence of `そうですね` is supposed to mislead you. It seems like a positive\nagreement, leading to you to think that a positive answer, `読みます【よみます】(to\nread)`, is the way to go.\n\nAfter all, if the answer was _just_ そうですね, then you _could_ translate the\nc... | 2350 | 2355 | 2355 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2353",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I've heard that the number four attracts superstition because of its\nsimilarity with the word for death. For example, [yon is used instead of\nshi](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/328/how-to-choose-between-\nyon-vs-shi-for-4-and-shichi-vs/3... | [
{
"body": "Yes, the pronunciation is roughly the same.\n\nNo, it doesn't.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-31T13:23:53.793",
"id": "2352",
"last_activity_date": "2011-07-31T13:23:53.793",
"last_edit_date": null,
"last_editor_user_id":... | 2351 | 2353 | 2353 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2358",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "While attempting to translate the sentence \"It will soon be two years since I\nstarted learning Japanese\", I started wondering how になります works in the context\nof time. Ignoring any other translation errors, is になります the correct word to\nuse at the end ... | [
{
"body": "Your first sentence had grammatical mistakes irrelevant to the question, so I\nfixed it.\n\n> * 日本語を勉強し始めてからもうすぐ二年になります\n> * もうすぐ10時になりますね\n>\n\nare both correct. `なります` does not need some state to transfer into. It can be\njust an instantaneous event, like 'becoming 10 o'clock'.\n\nThe sentence\... | 2356 | 2358 | 2358 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2366",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I sometimes find that when Japanese answer my questions, their answers are too\nvague. For instance, I asked what つなぎ is in a given context. A Japanese person\ntold me it is 作業着の種類, \"a type of work clothes.\" That's still too vague for me.\nIs it a kind... | [
{
"body": "The best way to get clarification is to ask a question that illustrates what\nexactly you're confused about. You've already asked these in English:\n\n> \"Is it a kind of cloth?\" それは生地の一種ですか？ (Answer: no, it's a type of clothing,\n> not cloth)\n>\n> \"What are the other types?\" 作業着といえば他にどんなのがありますか？... | 2360 | 2366 | 2362 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2365",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "For example, when JAXA launches a rocket, or people count the seconds to the\nNew Year, do they use し or よん to count 4? do they use しち or なな to count 7?",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-07-31T20:35:58.... | [
{
"body": "Usually when you count, you use `よん` for '4' and `なな` for '7'. That applies to\nwhen you [count down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDSkhsbHwXI).\n\n> じゅう きゅう はち **なな** ろく ご **よん** さん に いち\n\nHowever, in some situations, pronouncing a certain sequence of numbers became\nso frequent end became a fix... | 2364 | 2365 | 2365 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2371",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I have been in the market for some good synonyms for `ときどき`, and I encountered\none today that I wanted to share, and also ask for some opinions, since I can\nnot find a correct definition online. The specific use I encountered is:\n\n> 俺実は **ここんとこ** ずっと... | [
{
"body": "It is a contracted form of `ここの所`. `所` typically means place, but has other\nuses such as heading a relative clause or, as in this case, refering to a time\ninstead of a place. `ここ` is also referring to recent times rather than nearby\nplaces. The translation is 'these days', 'recently'. You are righ... | 2370 | 2371 | 2371 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2375",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Can't find this in the dictionary. Is this the slang form of something else?\nWhat does it mean?",
"comment_count": 3,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-08-01T05:10:27.223",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "2374",
"last_act... | [
{
"body": "It sounds like にかしょ, so probably 二カ所 (two places) or 二箇所 (two parts).",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2011-08-01T05:27:47.477",
"id": "2375",
"last_activity_date": "2011-08-01T05:27:47.477",
"last_edit_date": null,
"last_editor_us... | 2374 | 2375 | 2375 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2383",
"answer_count": 4,
"body": "My dictionary lists `髭` as **moustache / beard** , but from the example\nsentences in [WWWJDIC](http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-\nbin/wwwjdic.cgi?1MUE%E9%AB%AD), it seems like `髭` is more often used to mean\n\"beard\" than \"moustache\" ?\n\nSo fo... | [
{
"body": "I think it's hard to tell since they're both read as `ひげ`.\n\nBut comparing to Chinese,\n\n> 須(simplified) 鬚(traditional) (both read as xū) is used for beard.\n>\n> 髭(zī) is used for moustache.\n\nIf you look in the Japanese dictionary, ひげ has two kanji - 鬚 and 髭\n\nThe former corresponds to the Chin... | 2376 | 2383 | 2383 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2382",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Consider the case when `から` and `ので` follows a noun, な-adjective, or noun-\nequivalent:\n\n> から：静か **だ** から... \"Because it is quiet...\" (Subjective causality)\n>\n> ので：静か **な** ので... \"Because it is quiet...\" (Objective causality)\n\n**(Question)** Wh... | [
{
"body": "`から` 'since, because' attaches to a clause, whereas `で` 'with (the reason\nbeing)' attaches to a noun. `静かだ` is an indicative clause (ordinary sentence),\nso you can simply attach `から`, but not `で`.\n\n> * 静かだから\n> * × 静かだで\n>\n\nIn order to use `で`, you have to have a noun. To do that, you use t... | 2377 | 2382 | 2382 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2386",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "The pronunciation \"みやげ\" does not correspond to on'yomi nor kun'yomi of `土産`,\nso I thought it was a _gikun_ (義訓), but the combination of kanji `土` and `産`\ndoes not seem to provide the meaning of \"souvenir\" either. Based on the\npronunciation, I prev... | [
{
"body": "There are several explanations I found on [gogen-allguide](http://gogen-\nallguide.com/mi/miyage.html):\n\nThe kanji are obvious, it's a souvenir, a product of the land.\n\nThe reading can come from 見上 (みあげ) as you \"look\" (見) for something to \"give\"\n(上), from 屯倉（みやけ）which is a place with stocks ... | 2385 | 2386 | 2386 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2388",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "Consider the following sentence:\n\n> その薬は去年期限切れ **の** だったので、捨てました。\n\nI'm trying to explain what the bolded の does in the above sentence.\n\nThis is what I came up with:\n\n> の is used as a back referral\n>\n> The sentence would look like this :\n>\n> そ... | [
{
"body": "Your question is not really clear… Are you asking about \"の\" or \"期限切れ\"?\n\n> の is used as a back referral\n\nActually, it's a simple elision..\n\n誰のペンですか？ 私の(ペン)です。 \nWhose pen is it? it is _mine_\n\n何のタイアですか？ 車の(タイヤ)だ。 \nOf what kind of vehicle is this tire? It's a car's one.\n\nAs far as \"の f... | 2387 | 2388 | 2388 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2401",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "For example, the following 3:\n\n> 女っぽい (おんなっぽい) \n> 女らしい (おんならしい) \n> 女みたい (おんなみたい)\n\nIn what situations would you use っぽい over らしい？ Does っぽい have negative\nconnotations? Are 女らしい and 女みたい interchangeable as in 彼女は本当に女らしい／彼女は本当に女みたい?\n\nI would lov... | [
{
"body": "From what I have learned, らしい denotes third-party information (i.e. you got\nthe information from someone else) while みたい denotes first-party information.\nSo 女らしい would mean that you heard from someone (or even rumor) that she's a\nfemale, and 女みたい would mean that it is your conjecture based on your... | 2391 | 2401 | 2401 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "2397",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "The following two sentences, I believe, are grammatically okay, however I'm\nnot sure on how they differ in nuance.\n\n> もう[歩]{ある}けない **ほど** [疲]{つか}れた！ \n> もう歩けない **くらい** 疲れた！\n\nAdditionally, why is it that:\n\n> [死]{し}ぬ **ほど** [恥]{は}ずかしい\n\nis gramma... | [
{
"body": "A ほど B だ says that B is sufficient for A. In the context of the hyperbole you\nmention, A is usually some high bar. So 死ぬほど恥ずかしい means that the embarrassment\nwas sufficient to cause death.\n\nA くらい B だ says that B is comparable to A. 一キロぐらいの重さだ = \"about 1 kilogram\".\n\nWhat's the difference in nua... | 2392 | 2397 | 2397 |
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