Nihongo

joined 9 months ago
 

Hi, I use Rikaichan/Rikaikun at the moment but I'm not sure how to turn on pitch accent if it has it. Does anyone use a pop-up dictionary that has pitch accent, by any chance?

 

相席(あいせき,) means "sharing a table with someone you don't know (e.g. at a restaurant)" (Takoboto).

What other fun words have you all encountered that just don't translate well to English or require a short explanation?

I'd like to make a sentence that's very long in translation, and/or read a silly sentence like that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Oh... I'll just use 括弧(かっこ) for now, then. It's easier to type out anyway. Still a cool feature!

 

({凸|のの})

{Testing, 1 2 3|Look I made a face!}, I just want to try this in a post.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

I'd suggest asking on hinative.com, since you can ask a native speaker there.

水分補強 sounds like "water rations" or something to me (dictionary). It's just the nouns and doesn't imply "stay hydrated!" to me, personally - like writing "Hydration" on a bottle.

Offhand, I'd suggest asking a native speaker about some of these:

  1. 熱中症にご注意! "Be careful of heatstroke!" (commonly said phrase to imply "drink water" and cool off, probably fits with skeleton best I think? Unless it's winter, definitely more common in summer)
  2. 水分を忘れないでね! "Don't forget to hydrate!" (I need to ask a native speaker if the "ne" makes it sound feminine though)
  3. グイグイ飲もう! "Let's drink lots!" (Might imply alcohol, but that might be funnier? or ぐいぐい)
  4. のんで、のんで、のんでのんで、のんで 、のんで、のんでのんで、のんで ! "Drink!" x10 (Might also have alcoholic connotations - like "Chug chug chug!")
  5. 水分補給しよう! "Let's hydrate!" (Or しましょう which is formal/polite)

I think the first two work best with a skeleton. Maybe 2 is clearest.

Not sure what other ideas people might have - also note that I'm NOT a native Japanese speaker. Just throwing out some ideas!

 

Or 華金? Well, either way: TGIF!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Haha oh no! Too much 疲れ lol

 

In the car on the way to a castle (お城) with my host family's kids, no less. They thought it was hilarious that I was excited to see the お尻 (butt).

Any other gaffes out there? 🙃

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Thanks!! Today I learned "ancestral grave" and QQ者 🤣

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

I like it, lol.

 

救急救命士(きゅうきゅうきゅうめいし / paramedic) is one of my favorite Japanese words because it has きゅう three times in a row.

Any other fun words like that?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

a bit ableist Yea, they sound that way to me, too. I'm not sure what Japanese people think.

But, either way I like the character聾!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Oh, that's neat!! I'm happy for you.

 

聾者(ろうしゃ) looks like 龍(たつ・りゅう / dragon)+耳(みみ / ear)then 者(しゃ/person)

Etymology-wise, it seems the "dragon" part was added just for the pronunciation, not because of dragons.

It means:"Deaf person".

That said, 耳の不自由な人(みみのふじゆうなひと / not-free-ear people)・耳が聞こえない人(みみがきこえないひと / ears-can't-hear people)・聴覚障害者(ちょうかくしょうがいしゃ / hearing disabled people) might be more common terms. Deaf people themselves prefer 聾者 - and I can see why! Who wouldn't want to be a dragon eared person? I like the character.

 

I love the visual aspect. They areでこぼこ and おうとつ and mean bumpiness.

If I understand this 使い分け explanation, the core meaning (bumpiness) is the same. However でこぼこ is spoken and can be used in more ways: to mean miscellaneous, as an adverb, or as an adjective. おうとつ is written, and strictly a noun about bumpiness.

Anyway, I still like these characters because they're awesome!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Thanks... I looked up 吉, and unfortunately it appears that there are just two onyomis for this. WHY!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Thanks!
Curses, きち and きつ are apparently both onyomi.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Haha, you're welcome!

 

吉(き↑ち↓)= Lucky (especially from a fortune)
不吉(ふ↑きつ)= Unlucky

Why is it not ふきち!? Makes me want to quote Atsugiri Jason: WHY JAPANESE PEOPLE WHY!!!

/rant