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【No. 1431】Visit Tateshina

Nov 18, 2018 23:08
Visit Tateshina

Today, I came to Ueda city, Nagano, to do experiments of my research.

Since the experiments were scheduled afternoon, I visited Tateshina in the morning, which is placed between Tokyo and Ueda city.

First, I went to Yokoya Keikoku (横谷渓谷 - "Yokoya Gorge") and enjoyed views of waterfalls and beautiful mountains.

Next, I went to ’Sekai no Kage-e Kirie Garasu Orugōru Bijutsukan’ (世界の影絵・きり絵・ガラス・オルゴール美術館 - "World's Shadow Picture, Cutout Picture, Glass, and Music Box Museum").

I was surprised by the huge shadow and cutout pictures.

Finally, I went to Tateshina Teddy Bear Museum.

Teddy bears of all over the world were exhibited, and they were very cute.

It was a fulfilling morning.
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【No. 1430】Gohounen Kudasai (ご放念ください - Please Disregard Something)

Nov 17, 2018 04:14
Gohounen Kudasai

Several days ago, I used the phrase gohounen kudasai (ご放念下さい) when writing an e-mail.

Go (ご) is a polite prefix, hou (放) means "to let something go," nen (念) means "mind" or "care," kudasai (ください), so the literal meaning of this phrase is "Please let your mind/care go."

This phrase is used when you do not want someone to care about something or you want someone to forget something.

For example, when you find that you sent an e-mail to someone by mistake, you can use it on another e-mail to apologize for your mistake.
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【No. 1429】Houkou Onchi / Undō Onchi (方向音痴 / 運動音痴)

Nov 16, 2018 20:56
Houkou Onchi / Undō Onchi

Yesterday, I introduced you to the Japanese term onchi (音痴), which means "tone deaf."

There are several terms that were derived from this onchi -- houkou onchi (方向音痴), undō onchi (運動音痴), etc.

Houkou (方向) means "direction," and undō (運動) means "sport" or "exercise."

In addition, onchi (音痴) can mean a poor ability/sense of not only singing but also a specific one.

That is to say, houkou onchi means a person who has no sense of direction and is often get lost, and undō onchi means a person who has poor sports ability.
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【No. 1428】Onchi (音痴 - A Bad Signer)

Nov 15, 2018 14:32
Onchi

Recently, I learned that you can enjoy karaoke with Nintendo Switch.

Also, the other day, I bought a microphone and an unlimited pass, then enjoyed karaoke at my home.

Unfortunately, I noticed something.

Probably I am a person called onchi (音痴).

On/oto (音) means "sound," and chi (痴) means that someone does not have an ability to distinguish something or is a little dumb.

That is to say, onchi means that someone does not have the ability to distinguish sounds, and it is often used to describe a person who is a bad singer.
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【No. 1427】Taikoban wo Osu (太鼓判を押す - Guaranteeing)

Nov 14, 2018 21:10
Taikoban wo Osu

Yesterday, I introduced you to the term machigai-nai (間違いない), which means that there is no doubt that something/someone is good.

Today, I would like to introduce another term having a similar meaning, taikoban wo osu (太鼓判を押す).

Taiko (太鼓) means "Japanese-style drum," han/ban (判) means "seal" (emblem), and osu (押す) means "to put something" or "to stamp."

Taikoban can literally mean a big seal like a drum, but originally, it meant Japanese-style drum-like decorations that were stamped on an edge of golden coins.

Since these stamped coins mean that their values were guaranteed, taikoban wo osu came to mean to guarantee that something/someone is good/valuable.
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【No. 1426】Machigai-Nai (間違いない - Doubtless)

Nov 13, 2018 15:10
Machigainai

Today, I saw an advertisement saying that 'Machigai-nai *** desu' (間違いない○○です) in my university.

Machigai (間違い) means "mistake" or "error," and nai (ない) means a negative suffix, so the literal meaning of machigai-nai is "no mistake" or "no doubt."

Normally, the adjective machigai-nai is used to mean that there is no mistake or no room for doubt in something mentioned before.

However, this adjective can also be placed just before a noun, such as machigai-nai shōhin (間違いない商品 - literally "doubtless product") or machigai-nai aji (間違いない味 - literally "doubtless taste").

In these cases, machigai-nai contains the meaning of "assurance" -- in other words, it implies that you will never make a mistake if you choose this product/dish/etc.
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【No. 1425】Otasā no Hime (オタサーの姫 - "Princess in a Nerds' Club")

Nov 12, 2018 19:54
Otasā no Hime

Yesterday, I introduced you to the term kou itten (紅一点), which means a woman among many men.

Today, I would like to introduce the slang term otasā no hime (オタサーの姫), which has a similar meaning to it.

Otasā (オタサー) is short for otaku no sākuru (オタクのサークル - literally "nerds' club"), and hime (姫) means "princess."

This term is used when referring to one or a few female members belonging to a liberal-arts-oriented club that is composed mainly of men (especially nerds).

Since male members in such clubs often treat a few female members as "princess," they has come to be called 'otasā no hime.'
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【No. 1424】Kou Itten (紅一点 - The Only Woman in a Group)

Nov 11, 2018 22:01
Kou Itten

A group I know is composed of about twenty men and one woman.

When a woman belonging to a male group like this case, she is referred to as kou itten (紅一点).

Kou (紅) means "red" or "crimson," i/ichi (一) means "one," and ten (点) means "point."

Originally, this term was used in China to mean "one crimson flower blooming in a field of grass."

In Japan, it came to mean "a different thing among many things," furthermore, these days it is usually used to mean "a woman among many men."
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【No. 1423】Miira-tori ga Miira ni Naru (ミイラ取りがミイラになる - Many Go out for Wool and Come Home Shorn)

Nov 10, 2018 21:33
Miira-tori ga Miira ni Naru

I sometimes fall into a situation described by the proverb miira-tori ga miira ni naru (ミイラ取りがミイラになる).

Miira (ミイラ) means "mummy," tori (取り) means "hunter" or "taker," and naru (なる) means "to become," so the literal meaning of this proverb is "A mummy hunter becomes a mumy."

Here, miira-tori (ミイラ取り - "mummy hunter") implies a person who tries to bring someone back or persuade someone, and miira ni naru (ミイラになる - "becoming a mummy") implies that the person fails to fulfill his/her purpose.

If you want to express this proverb in English, you can say "Many go out for wool and come home shorn."
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【No. 1422】聞く and 聴く (Listen/Hear)

Nov 9, 2018 19:55
聞く and 聴く

I often "listen" to popular music.

Besides, these days I often hear the sound of rain.

In English, you can use the verb "listen" when you pay attention to the sounds coming into your ears, whereas you can use the verb "hear" when you are aware of sounds coming through your ears.

On the other hand, Japanese people say kiku (きく) in both cases -- we do not distinguish between those pronunciations.

However, kiku can be written as kanji in two different ways; 聞く and 聴く;

聞く can be used to mean both "listen" and "hear," whereas 聴く can be used to mean only "listen."
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【No. 1421】Shippo wo Dasu (尻尾を出す - Revealing One's Secret Unintentionally)

Nov 8, 2018 17:16
Shippo wo Dasu

Yesterday, I introduced you to the idion boro ga deru (ぼろが出る), which means to reveal one's secret faults/weaknesses unintentionally.

There is another idiom, shippo wo dasu (尻尾を出す), which has the similar meaning of this.

Shippo (尻尾) means "tail" and dasu (出す) means "to come out" or "to reveal," so the literal meaning of shippo wo dasu is "to reveal one's tail."

Here, the tail represents the tail of a raccoon dog or fox -- Japanese people have believed that raccoon dogs and foxes deceive people by changing their figure.

Even if they change their figure into something else, you can detect the truth by seeing their tail, so shippo wo dasu has come to mean that someone reveals his/her secret unintentionally.
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【No. 1420】Boro ga Deru (ぼろが出る - Letting One's Fault Reveal Unexpectedly)

Nov 7, 2018 22:30
Boro ga Deru

Have you ever let your secret faults reveal unexpectedly?

Such a situation can be described as boro ga deru (ぼろが出る) in Japanese.

Boro (ぼろ) means shabby clothes, and it comes from an onomatopoeia boro boro (ぼろぼろ), which describes that something is damaged.

Since people do not want to show their shabby clothes, boro can also mean "fault" or "mistake."

In addition, deru (出る) means "to come out."

That is to say, boro ga deru means that "a fault comes out."
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【No. 1419】Speeding

Nov 6, 2018 15:13
Speeding

Yesterday, a man who was driving a GT-R in Osaka was arrested for speeding.

Surprisingly, the speed of his car was about 280 km/h.

Since the speed limit at the road was 60 km/h, he exceeded the speed limit by about 220 km/h.

This is the highest speed among those who arrested for speeding in Japan, and the amount of speed that exceeded the speed limit may be the world record.

Incidentally, the world record of the speeding offense is owned by Kazuhiko Nagata (known as "Smoky Nagata") -- he drove a GT-R at a British expressway at a speed of 317 km/h.
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【No. 1418】Pochi (ポチ)

Nov 5, 2018 17:34
Pochi

Dogs are the animal with the oldest history as pets, and many dogs are bred all over the world including Japan.

The most common name for dogs in Japan is pochi (ポチ).

There are a variety of etymology about the name -- they say that it comes from the French "petit" (meaning "small"), the English "spotty," "Pooch," the Czech "Pojd'" (meaning "come"), or the Japanese koreppocchi (これっぽっち - meaning "something small").

The most common synonym of dogs in Japan is wan-chan (ワンちゃん), which was made by combining the dog's bark wan (ワン) and the suffix chan (ちゃん), but pochi is also common as a synonym of dogs.
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【No. 1417】Yoru Gohan (夜ごはん - Dinner)

Nov 4, 2018 11:43
Yoru Gohan

"Breakfast" is referred to as asa gohan (朝ごはん - literally "morning meal") in Japanese.

"Lunch" is referred to as hiru gohan (昼ごはん - literally "noon meal") in Japanese.

"Dinner" is referred to as ban gohan (晩ごはん - literally "evening meal") or yū gohan (夕ごはん - literally "evening meal").

However, recently people who call "dinner" yoru gohan (夜ごはん - literally "night meal") have increased.

It is thought that this term comes from the fact that the antonym of asa (朝 - morning) is yoru (夜 - night).

Originally, yoru gohan is not correct Japanese, but it is becoming common.
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【No. 1416】Sazukari Kon (授かり婚 - Shotgun Wedding)

Nov 3, 2018 23:32
Sazukari Kon

Yesterday, I introduced you to the Japanese term dekichatta kekkon (できちゃった結婚), which means "shotgun wedding."

However, since the expression '...chatta' (～ちゃった) contains a nuance of "unexpected" or "unintended," dekichatta kekkon does not have a good image.

Because of this, these days people have come to use sazukari kon (授かり婚) instead.

Sazukari (授かり) means "be given/gifted," and kon (婚) is an abbreviation for kekkon (結婚 - "marriage").

That is to say, sazukari kon implies that the marriage is led by a given baby.
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【No. 1415】Dekichatta Kekkon (できちゃった結婚 - Shotgun Wedding)

Nov 2, 2018 23:30
Dekichatta Kekkon

Today, I would like to introduce you to the Japanese slang term dekichatta kekkon (できちゃった結婚).

Dekichatta (できちゃった) is a slang term of dekita (できた), meaning "something was made/created," and kekkon (結婚) means "marriage."

This term does not describe clearly what was made, but here it means "baby."

That is to say, dekichatta kekkon means a marriage due to an unintended pregnancy.

This term is often abbreviated as dekichatta kon (できちゃった婚) or dekikon (でき婚) for short.
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【No. 1414】Me ga Nai (目がない - Having a Weakness)

Nov 1, 2018 17:40
Me ga Nai

When you want to describe that someone is fond of something heavily and crazily, you can use the Japanese idiom me ga nai (目がない).

Me (目) means "eye" and nai (ない) means "do not have" or "nothing," so the literal meaning of this idiom is "one does not have eyes."

If you do not have your eyes, the ability to see and judge things will down.

That is to say, me ga nai implies that someone is too fond of something to see/judge anything.

Note that when this is used as miru me ga nai (見る目がない) by adding miru (見る - literally "seeing"), it literally means that someone has no eyes to judge/is blind to things.
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【No. 1413】Namida wo Nomu (涙を呑む - Swallowing Tears)

Oct 31, 2018 22:40
Namida wo Nomu

A few days ago, I took an action called namida wo nomu (涙を呑む) in Japanese.

Namida wo nomu is an idiom that means to hold back one's tears when the one is about to cry due to regret, chagrin, or sorrow.

Namida (涙) means "tear," and nomu (呑む) means "to drink" or "to swallow," so the literal meaning of this idiom is "to drink/swallow tears."

That is to say, this idiom implies that you hold back your tears by swallowing them.

I heard that the literal translation, "to swallow tears" and "to swallow/back down tears" can be used in the same meaning to this.
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【No. 1412】Honenuki (骨抜き - Pulling Teeth)

Oct 30, 2018 17:19
Honenuki

I have seen a person who has gone into a state called honenuki (骨抜き).

Hone (骨) means "bone," nuki (抜き) means "to pull out," and the combination has three major meanings.

One is to pull out/remove fish or chicken bones (or a tool for doing it) as this term itself means.

In addition, since bones are very important for almost all living beings, it means to remove an important/key part from a plan or something.

Furthermore, if you use this term to a person, it means that he/she loses their belief or backbone due to sexual factors and is madly in love with someone.