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【No. 0867】Ninomai

May 3, 2017 09:35
Today I will talk about the Japanese term "ninomai."

"Ni" means "second," "mai" means "performing art," and "ninomai" means to imitate someone's act, especially repeat someone's failure.

This term comes from the answer dance of "Ama," which is one of Gagaku (Japanese traditional music and dance).

After the performance of "Ama," an old man wearing a smile mask and an old woman wearing an pouty mask play a dance while imitating "Ama" humorously.

This second performance is called "ninomai," and it has come to have the current meaning.

This term is often used like "ninomai wo enjiru," meaning "to perform ninomai."
二の舞

今日は「二の舞」という言葉を紹介します。

「二の舞」は、人のあとに出てその真似をすること、特に前の人の失敗を繰り返すことを意味します。

この言葉は、雅楽の一つ、「安摩」の答舞に由来します。

安摩の舞の後、それを見ていた咲面の老爺と腫面の老婆が、こっけいに（わざと失敗しながら）真似をする舞を演じます。

この舞いを「二の舞」と呼び、失敗を繰り返すという現在の意味を持つようになりました。

この言葉は、よく「二の舞を演じる」のように使われます。

Corrections (3)

No. 1　Qcumber
  • Today I will talk about the Japanese term "ninomai."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • "Ni" means "second," "mai" means "performing art," and "ninomai" means to imitate someone's act, especially repeat someone's failure.
  • "Ni" means "second," "mai" means "performing art," and "ninomai" means to imitate someone's act, especially when repeating someone's failure.
  • After the performance of "Ama," an old man wearing a smile mask and an old woman wearing an pouty mask play a dance while imitating "Ama" humorously.
  • After the performance of "Ama," an old man wearing a smiling mask and an old woman wearing a pouting mask dance while imitating "Ama" humorously.
Toru
Thank you so much for the corrections! :)
No. 2　Brandon
  • Today I will talk about the Japanese term "ninomai."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • "Ni" means "second," "mai" means "performing art," and "ninomai" means to imitate someone's act, especially repeat someone's failure.
  • "Ni" means "second," "mai" means "performing art," and "ninomai" means to imitate someone's act, especially when repeating someone's failure.
  • This term comes from the answer dance of "Ama," which is one of Gagaku (Japanese traditional music and dance).
  • This term comes from the answer dance of "Ama," which is a kind of Gagaku (Japanese traditional music and dance).

    Not sure what you mean by "answer dance."

  • After the performance of "Ama," an old man wearing a smile mask and an old woman wearing an pouty mask play a dance while imitating "Ama" humorously.
  • After the performance of "Ama," an old man wearing a smiley mask and an old woman wearing a pouty mask initiate a dance while imitating "Ama" humorously.
  • This second performance is called "ninomai," and it has come to have the current meaning.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • This term is often used like "ninomai wo enjiru," meaning "to perform ninomai."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

Nice work.

Toru
Thank you so much for correcting my post! :)

> Not sure what you mean by "answer dance."
In some performances of Gagaku, performers dance first on the left side, then other performers dance on the right side. Since the second dance is something like a reply/answer to the first dance, we call it "tobu" ("to" means "answer" and "bu" means "dance").
Brandon
今は分かります。
No. 3　Wataru Ford
  • Ninomai
  • Ni No Mai
  • Today I will talk about the Japanese term "ninomai."
  • Today I will talk about the Japanese term "ni no mai."

    英語を母国語とする人、これを三つの言葉に分けることが自然に感じます。グルってみると、三つの言葉のように書かれます。ハイフンでもいいです。

    As a native English speaker, my instinct is to write this as three words. On Google, it's usually transliterated as three words. You can use hyphens if you want: ni-no-mai.

  • "Ni" means "second," "mai" means "performing art," and "ninomai" means to imitate someone's act, especially repeat someone's failure.
  • "Ni" means "second," "mai" means "performing art," and "ni no mai" means to imitate someone's act, especially repeating someone's failure.

    Or, "especially to repeat someone's failure."

  • This term comes from the answer dance of "Ama," which is one of Gagaku (Japanese traditional music and dance).
  • The term comes from a gagaku performance (a traditional form of music and dance) called Ama no Kotaemai.

    この言葉は、雅楽の一つ、「安摩」の答舞に由来します。

    「答舞」という言葉は英語にないので、訳さなかったほうがいいです。雅楽を知らない人はanswer danceを聞くと意味を分かりません。

    There is no word like kotaemai in English, so it's better not to translate it. If a person who doesn't know about gagaku heard "answer dance," they wouldn't understand the meaning.

  • After the performance of "Ama," an old man wearing a smile mask and an old woman wearing an pouty mask play a dance while imitating "Ama" humorously.
  • After the performance, an old man wearing a smiling mask and an old woman wearing an frowning mask perform a dance while imitating the character Ama humorously.
  • This second performance is called "ninomai," and it has come to have the current meaning.
  • This second performance is called "ni no mai," and it has come to have the current meaning.
  • This term is often used like "ninomai wo enjiru," meaning "to perform ninomai."
  • This term is often used in phrases like "ni no mai wo enjiru," meaning "to perform a ni no mai."

興味深いです。

Toru
Thank you so much for the corrections and explanations! (^^)

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