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【No. 1324】The World's Shortest Love Letter Part 1

Aug 3, 2018 16:19
Today, I would like to introduce you to the episode of the world's shortest love letter.

In 1956, the first Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition was sent to Shōwa Station in Antarctica.

And eleven of them tried to overwinter in Antarctica, but the unimaginable severity of nature hindered it.

According to records, their tents were blown off by blizzard, two-thirds of the food washed into drift ice, and they lived by eating seals and seagulls.

In that era, there was neither internet nor telephone -- the only communication means was a telegram.

It was a very precious time for them to communicate with their families using telegrams.

To be continued.
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【No. 1323】Koibumi (恋文 - Love Letter)

Aug 2, 2018 16:28
Koibumi

Yesterday, I introduced you to the Japanese word tegami (手紙), which means a "letter."

Among them, letters for expressing feelings of love are especially called koibumi (恋文) in Japanese.

Koi (恋) means "love" and bumi/fumi (文) means "sentence."

Koibumi is a literal translation of the English "love letter," and it has come to be used since around the Taishō period.

However, these days the English loanword raburetā (ラブレター) is more general than koibumi.

Tomorrow I would like to talk about some trivia concerning a love letter.
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【No. 1322】Tegami (手紙 - Letter)

Aug 1, 2018 21:58
Tegami

A paper, on which messages or information is written, is called "letter" in English, whereas it is called tegami (手紙) in Japanese.

Te (手) means "hand" and gami/kami (紙) means "paper."

Therefore, the word tegami was originally used to mean a convenient paper at hand.

The most accepted theory about its etymology is that the character te could also mean "technique to write letters" or "characters."

Incidentally, I heard that 手紙 means "toilet paper" in China.

When I was writing this entry, I remembered that I needed to buy toilet papers for my apartment.
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【No. 1321】Socha (粗茶 - "Coarse Tea")

Jul 31, 2018 23:08
Socha

In Japan, when serving tea to visitors, we sometimes say "socha desuga" (粗茶ですが).

Since so (粗) means "coarse" or "low-grade" and cha (茶) means "tea," socha means "low-grade and coarse tea."

Also, desuga (ですが) is a conjunction that means "but" or "however."

It might be strange for foreigners that we serve tea while explaining that the tea is coarse and low-grade.

Actually, this is a respectful expression peculiar to Japan, which lowers one's own position.

In other words, this expression implies that this tea may be not good compared to tea you drink daily, but I prepared it made with love, so please drink it.
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【No. 1320】Giri-giri (ぎりぎり - "Barely")

Jul 30, 2018 22:04
Giri-giri

Today I giri-giri (ぎりぎり - "barely") met a deadline.

Giri-giri is an onomatopoeia that represents that something is close to a limit or there is no room, and it is also used as an adverb.

It is thought that giri (ぎり) in giri-giri comes from the Japanese noun kagiri (限り), which means "limit."

When making it just in time, we often say giri-giri sēfu (ぎりぎりセーフ - "barely okay").

On the other hand, when missing something by a hair, we sometimes say giri-giri auto (ぎりぎりアウト - "just failed").
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【No. 1319】Kanji (漢字 - "Chinese Character")

Jul 29, 2018 17:49
Kanji

Japanese people often use kanji (漢字), which are characters born in China.

The term kanji is written as "Chinese character" in English.

The literal translation of Chinese characters is chūgoku-ji (中国字), but we call it kanji for some reason.

Kan (漢), which is called "Han" in English, was the second imperial dynasty of China founded in 206 BC.

This dynasty continued for more than 420 years, and it has become one period that represents China.

Because of this, Kan has come to mean China itself, then the term kanji (漢字, literally "Han character") was born.
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【No. 1317】Yamayama (山々 - Mountains)

Jul 27, 2018 23:04
Yamayama

"Yama" (山) means "mountains," and the kanji 々 means a repetition of the last character.

Therefore, 山々 is read as "yamayama," and it means "many mountains" or "mountains in various places."

On the other hand, this term is often used as an adverb.

If you say “~ shitai no wa yamayama daga” (～したいのは山々だが), it means that a feeling that you want to do something is high like mountains, but you cannot do it.

【Example sentences】
Kōkyū na niku wo tabetai no wa yamayama daga, okane ga nai (高級な肉を食べたいのは山々だが、お金が無い - I really want to eat a prime cut of beef, but I am out of money).
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【No. 1316】Gokiburi (ゴキブリ - Cockroach)

Jul 26, 2018 21:51
Gokiburi

Many people don't like gokiburi (ゴキブリ - cockroach).

I talked about gokiburi a few times on Lang-8, but I have never mentioned its etymology.

Originally, gokiburi was called goki kaburi (御器かぶり).

Goki (御器) means "eating utensils," and kaburi (かぶり) means "to wear" or "to gnaw."

There are two major theories about the etymology of 'gokikaburi'; One is that the state of being hiding under eating utensils looked as if they were wearing dishes, and the other is that they gnawed not only food but also eating utensils.
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【No. 1315】Akaten (赤点 - Failing Grade)

Jul 25, 2018 20:50
Akaten

Have you ever gotten an akaten (赤点) on an exam?

Since aka (赤) means red and ten (点) means score, the literal meaning of akaten is "red score."

In Japanese schools, if students got a failing grade on a test, the score would be written in red in the grades table.

Because of this, akaten (赤点 - literally "red score") came to mean "failing grade."

The specific score for akaten depends on the school.

In most Japanese university exams, 60 points or less out of 100 points will be 'akaten.'
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【No. 1314】Natsubate (夏バテ - Summer Lethargy)

Jul 24, 2018 23:40
Natsubate

The hot humid weather has continued lately.

Please be careful not to become a state called natsubate (夏バテ).

Natsubate is the combined word made of the noun natsu (夏 - summer) and the verb bateru (バテる - being exhausted).

That is to say, this word means that your physical condition worsens due to the summer heat.

Incidentally, bate bate (バテバテ) is an onomatopoeia that represents tiredness, which is made by repeating the bate (バテ) in the verb bateru (バテる).
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【No. 1313】Jama (邪魔 - Hindrance)

Jul 23, 2018 17:38
In the area where I live, some people park their cars on a street, though it is prohibited by law.

Such cars are called jama (邪魔) in Japanese.

Jama means hindering things, or to hinder something.

Since ja (邪) means evil or malevolent and ma (魔) means devil, the literal meaning of jama is 'evil devil.'

Originally, this term referred to a devil who hinders Buddhist ascetic practices.

It is now used in everyday conversation.

Incidentally, there are other English words that correspond to jama (邪魔): interference, obstruction, hamper, etc.
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【No. 1312】Choromakasu (ちょろまかす - Sneaking)

Jul 22, 2018 15:37
Choromakasu

To steal something surreptitiously or to cheat on someone's money is called choromakasu (ちょろまかす) in Japanese.

There are two major theories about the etymology of this term.

One is that it was made by combining two words: choro (ちょろ), meaning to be quick, and makasu (まかす), which is short for gomakasu (ごまかす - covering up).

The other one is related to small boats used in the Edo period.

These small boats were called choro (ちょろ). Also, makasu (負かす) means to defeat something. That is to say, choromakasu could originally to imply that someone is quick enough to defeat 'choro.'
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【No. 1311】Hatena Māku (はてなマーク - Question Mark)

Jul 21, 2018 13:30
Hatena Māku

I told you that the exclamation mark '!' is called "bikkuri māku" (びっくりマーク) in Japan.

Similarly, the question mark is called "hatena māku" (はてなマーク).

The term hatena (はてな) can be divided into two words: hate (はて) and na (な).

Hate (はて) is an interjection that is used when you are wondering or suspecting something, and na (な) is an interjectional particle that emphasizes the previous word.

However, note that both bikkuri and hatena are casual and slang expressions.
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【No. 1310】Bikkuri (びっくり- Surprise)

Jul 20, 2018 16:02
There are a lot of surprises in our life.

In Japan, surprises are referred to as bikkuri (びっくり) in spoken language.

This term was derived from the onomatopoeia biku (びく), which represents a slight movement.

Since your body would move slightly when you are surprised, bikkuri has come to mean 'surprises.'

There is another onomatopoeia that represents a light movement, pikuri (ぴくり), but we never say pikkuri (ぴっくり).

Incidentally, the exclamation mark '!' is called "bikkuri māku" (びっくりマーク) in Japan.
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【No. 1309】Ukkari (うっかり - Carelessly)

Jul 19, 2018 21:17
Ukkari

Several days ago, I ukkari (うっかり) made a mistake.

Ukkari is a Japanese adverb that represents that someone is careless and distracted.

Ukkari was originally called ukari (浮かり), and it seemed to come from the verb uku (浮く), which means to float.

That is to say, it implies a state that one's heart is floating.

I heard that in the past ukkari could represent that someone would be fascinated with a beautiful thing, but now it is mostly used to mean a mistake due to carelessness or distraction.
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【No. 1308】Himojī (ひもじい - Hungry)

Jul 18, 2018 23:17
If you are hungry and painful, you can express the feeling by using the Japanese himojī (ひもじい).

In the past in Japan, people thought that hizō (脾臓 - spleen) became sluggish when they were hungry.

Because of this, people call the feeling of hungry hidarui (ひだるい), which was made by combining two wrods: hizō (脾臓 - spleen) and darui (だるい - sluggish).

However, since to be hungry was shameful, people said himoji (ひ文字 - hi character) as a code word of 'hidarui.'

Later, himoji became the adjective 'himojī.'
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【No. 1307】Kahō wa Nete Mate (果報は寝て待て - Everything Comes to Those who Wait)

Jul 17, 2018 20:33
Kahō wa Nete Mate

A Japanese TV show conducted an interesting survey related to Japanese proverbs.

The targets are Japanese people over 80 years old, and the question is "What is the proverb that you don't believe?"

The first place proverb was "kahō wa nete mate" (果報は寝て待て).

Kahō (果報) means happiness or compensation, nete (寝て) means to sleep, and mate (待て) means 'to wait.'

That is to say, this proverb means that happiness will come if you wait comfortably (after doing what you should do).

Note that it doesn't mean that happiness will come if you are lazy.

The reason why this proverb wasn't believed might be that many Japanese people thought that it would mean the latter.
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【No. 1306】Uma ga Au (馬が合う - Compatible)

Jul 16, 2018 16:57
Uma ga Au

Do you have a friend who gets along or a compatible person?

You can use the expression, "uma ga au" (馬が合う), to such a person.

Uma (馬) means horse and au (合う) means fit or 'conform.'

In horseback riding, if you want to ride a horse well, you have to conform to the horse.

Because of this, we say "uma ga au" to mean that you get along well with someone or someone is compatible.

You can also say "iki ga au" (息が合う), using iki (息 - breath) instead of uma (馬 - horse).
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【No. 1305】Mono Iu Hana (物言う花 - A Beautiful Woman)

Jul 15, 2018 14:28
Mono Iu Hana

The Japanese word, Hana (花 - flower), can be used to imply a beautiful woman.

If you want to mean that it is a woman more explicitly, you can also say "mono iu hana" (物言う花).

Since mono (物) means thing and iu (言う) means to say, the literal meaning of "mono iu hana" is "a flower that can say something."

Relative to mono iu hana, you can also refer to just a flower as "mono iwanu hana" (物言わぬ花), the literal meaning of which is "a flower that can't say anything."
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【No. 1304】Ohana Batake (お花畑 - A Field of Flowers)

Jul 14, 2018 20:35
"A field of flowers" is translated into Japanese as "hana batake" (花畑) or "ohana batake" (お花畑).

O (お) is the polite prefix, hana (花) means flower, and batake/hatake (畑) means 'field.'

This term, "ohana batake," is sometimes used as the following by combining with nounai (脳内 - inside one's brain) or "atama no naka" (頭の中 - inside one's head).

"Ano hito no nounai wa ohana batake da" (あの人の脳内はお花畑だ - Inside of his/her brain is a field of flowers).

Here, this phrase implies that the person is carefree, superficial, or blind.