garakei
An ordinary cellphone, without smart features, specifically designed for the Japanese market
This also came up in work today, and I initially assumed two things. It was an abbreviation for a longer term (that was correct), and that the longer term was ガラガラ携帯 garagara keitai, a cell phone devoid of additional features (that was not correct). It is an abbreviation for ガラパゴス携帯 garapagosu keitai, an ordinary (non-smart) cell-phone designed specifically for the Japanese market. But why is the reference to the Galapagos Islands in there? Because there is a tendency for Japanese manufacturers to develop a much wider range of features and products for the domestic market than they would for the export market, and as we see in examples of evolution in the Galapagos, the level of specialization for niche environments can reach extreme levels. This is pretty clever, linguistically.
Friday, February 28, 2020
Ⅴ形回復
buii-gata kaifuku
a financial turnaround, a sudden change from losses to gains
This came up in work today. The temptation is to include the V in the translation somehow, but it's not needed, IMHO. What we're talking about is a company whose profits were steadily declining suddenly change to be on the increase. So when charted, the profits trend line appears as a V, heading down and then back up.
This came up in work today. The temptation is to include the V in the translation somehow, but it's not needed, IMHO. What we're talking about is a company whose profits were steadily declining suddenly change to be on the increase. So when charted, the profits trend line appears as a V, heading down and then back up.
春眠暁を覚えず
syunmin akatuki o oboezu
proverb: we sleep more soundly (literally, we sleep through the sunrise) in spring
I asked my husband to teach me some new phrase in Japanese this morning and I suspect his choice reflects the fact that it is indeed spring here and he was his usual sleepy self, wanting to crawl back into bed. That he managed to pulled out a poetic turn of phrase (based on Chinese poetry; I am guessing the original might be something like 春眠暁不覚) in that state was impressive.
I asked my husband to teach me some new phrase in Japanese this morning and I suspect his choice reflects the fact that it is indeed spring here and he was his usual sleepy self, wanting to crawl back into bed. That he managed to pulled out a poetic turn of phrase (based on Chinese poetry; I am guessing the original might be something like 春眠暁不覚) in that state was impressive.
匙加減
sazi kagen
dosing a prescribed amount of measurement, a process of cooking where you season, taste, and adjust as you go, or, the ability to make changes and adjustments in work or life based on your overall skill and experience
I was discussing an earlier post with a colleague and he mentioned that this idiom was the only one that he had been aware to use 匙 sazi. And although it can be used in the first two literal senses, I love the image of being able to make minor course corrections in your life because you've already lived and learned enough to know when to add or subtract a spoonful of whatever here and there.
I was discussing an earlier post with a colleague and he mentioned that this idiom was the only one that he had been aware to use 匙 sazi. And although it can be used in the first two literal senses, I love the image of being able to make minor course corrections in your life because you've already lived and learned enough to know when to add or subtract a spoonful of whatever here and there.
Thursday, February 27, 2020
恋路
koizi
romance
I discovered this word when searching for a more romantic to the katakana form: ロマンス (romansu). The literal meaning is a path of love, which is an exquisite image for a romance.
I discovered this word when searching for a more romantic to the katakana form: ロマンス (romansu). The literal meaning is a path of love, which is an exquisite image for a romance.
歪に聞こえる
ibitu ni kikoeru
to come across strangely, to sound wrong, to not make any sense
Maybe it's because it's spring, but I'm suddenly hearing and learning a lot of new words and phrases in Japanese. I was talking about the challenge I face linguistically when I want to convey my ambitions and career needs in Japanese, something I normally would very rarely do. I've not heard many people do this in Japanese anyway, so issues like word choice are additionally challenging. Things that I would normally say in English don't necessarily make sense in Japanese, and trying to translate my thoughts from language to language can puzzle the listener. I was sharing this frustration and discussing new ways to talk about the future I see for myself with my (Japanese) husband, and as he commiserated with my challenge, he used the phrase above to surmise that the mentor I was working with would have had a hard time understanding what I wanted to say. As I investigated this, I realized that although I often run into the first character, it is usually in the context of a physical product deformation, because the Japanese verb associated with that character is 歪む (yugamu). So the phrase could literally be taken to mean: to sound twisted or deformed, to sound broken. This is one of the many times when I marvel at the ease with which you can paint incredible verbal pictures in Japanese.
Maybe it's because it's spring, but I'm suddenly hearing and learning a lot of new words and phrases in Japanese. I was talking about the challenge I face linguistically when I want to convey my ambitions and career needs in Japanese, something I normally would very rarely do. I've not heard many people do this in Japanese anyway, so issues like word choice are additionally challenging. Things that I would normally say in English don't necessarily make sense in Japanese, and trying to translate my thoughts from language to language can puzzle the listener. I was sharing this frustration and discussing new ways to talk about the future I see for myself with my (Japanese) husband, and as he commiserated with my challenge, he used the phrase above to surmise that the mentor I was working with would have had a hard time understanding what I wanted to say. As I investigated this, I realized that although I often run into the first character, it is usually in the context of a physical product deformation, because the Japanese verb associated with that character is 歪む (yugamu). So the phrase could literally be taken to mean: to sound twisted or deformed, to sound broken. This is one of the many times when I marvel at the ease with which you can paint incredible verbal pictures in Japanese.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
匙を投げる
sazi o nageru
to abandon, to give up in despair
I was explaining the English idioms to throw a wrench in the works (to throw a spanner in the works in Britain) to my husband this morning when it reminded him of this idiom in Japanese, which I had never heard before. He quickly noted that the Japanese idiom, whose literal meaning would be to toss the spoon, has a completely different meaning. It can be commonly used in two disparate situations: medicine and love affairs. When a doctor has concluded that there are no more viable treatment options for her patient, she tosses the spoon. And when a paramour decides that the relationship is no longer worth pursuing, he tosses the spoon. There are therefore frequently uses in passive voice:
I was explaining the English idioms to throw a wrench in the works (to throw a spanner in the works in Britain) to my husband this morning when it reminded him of this idiom in Japanese, which I had never heard before. He quickly noted that the Japanese idiom, whose literal meaning would be to toss the spoon, has a completely different meaning. It can be commonly used in two disparate situations: medicine and love affairs. When a doctor has concluded that there are no more viable treatment options for her patient, she tosses the spoon. And when a paramour decides that the relationship is no longer worth pursuing, he tosses the spoon. There are therefore frequently uses in passive voice:
- 医者に匙を投げられた isya ni sazi o nagerareta, The doctor gave up on me
- 彼氏に匙を投げられた karesi ni sazi o nagerareta, My boyfriend ended it
Monday, February 24, 2020
謙虚さ
kenkyosa
humility, modesty
This term came up frequently in a conversation I was having, and because I hadn't ever heard it in conversation, I took a note to look it up later. It reiterates a common struggle for interpreters. Japanese, like English, has native words (called 大和言葉, yamato kotoba, in Japanese) as well as words that entered the language from Chinese (introduced by Chinese and Korean monks and diplomats during the latter half of the first millennium, CE). This is akin to words in English based in Saxon roots and words based in Latin and Norman French roots. As a listener, it is almost always faster to comprehend the native word. For Japanese, I think one of the reasons is that you are not struggling to recall the specific characters for the loan word to make sure you know the meaning, given the large number of homophones there are for loan words in Japanese. However, there are times when there is no simple native word or phrase to replace the loan word, and this is one of those cases. Now that I'm aware of how the word is used in a conversational context, however, it will be less of a struggle the next time it comes up.
This term came up frequently in a conversation I was having, and because I hadn't ever heard it in conversation, I took a note to look it up later. It reiterates a common struggle for interpreters. Japanese, like English, has native words (called 大和言葉, yamato kotoba, in Japanese) as well as words that entered the language from Chinese (introduced by Chinese and Korean monks and diplomats during the latter half of the first millennium, CE). This is akin to words in English based in Saxon roots and words based in Latin and Norman French roots. As a listener, it is almost always faster to comprehend the native word. For Japanese, I think one of the reasons is that you are not struggling to recall the specific characters for the loan word to make sure you know the meaning, given the large number of homophones there are for loan words in Japanese. However, there are times when there is no simple native word or phrase to replace the loan word, and this is one of those cases. Now that I'm aware of how the word is used in a conversational context, however, it will be less of a struggle the next time it comes up.
Friday, February 21, 2020
雲蒸竜変
unzyou ryouhen, and also unzyou ryuuhen
to allow your talents to shine through
I don't normally like to include four-character aphorisms in this list (although given the lassitude on display by not posting for three years, I don't think I can use the word normally with any justification), but this was inspiring. It literally describes a transformation into a dragon within masses of roiling clouds, but metaphorically it can refer to a leader or hero who, given the opportunity, lets her talents and abilities shine forth.
to allow your talents to shine through
I don't normally like to include four-character aphorisms in this list (although given the lassitude on display by not posting for three years, I don't think I can use the word normally with any justification), but this was inspiring. It literally describes a transformation into a dragon within masses of roiling clouds, but metaphorically it can refer to a leader or hero who, given the opportunity, lets her talents and abilities shine forth.
過疎
kaso
to suffer from a (new or existing) lack of popularity, particularly as a video game
I had only ever encountered this term in reference to discussions of Japan's rural areas, where it refers to the depopulation that occurs as younger people move away and the older remaining residents gradually pass away. But I encountered it in metaphorical use today, to refer both to video games that never attracted a fanbase to begin with, as well as to video games whose players depart (depopulating the fanbase, as it were) once the game has been played through.
to suffer from a (new or existing) lack of popularity, particularly as a video game
I had only ever encountered this term in reference to discussions of Japan's rural areas, where it refers to the depopulation that occurs as younger people move away and the older remaining residents gradually pass away. But I encountered it in metaphorical use today, to refer both to video games that never attracted a fanbase to begin with, as well as to video games whose players depart (depopulating the fanbase, as it were) once the game has been played through.
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