{"id":70292,"date":"2014-07-11T17:30:03","date_gmt":"2014-07-11T17:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.strattoncraig.com\/insight\/japanese-phrases-part-one\/"},"modified":"2014-07-11T17:30:03","modified_gmt":"2014-07-11T17:30:03","slug":"japanese-phrases-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.strattoncraig.com\/us\/insight\/japanese-phrases-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"A duck approaches – Japanese phrases, part one"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the resident intermediate Japanese speaker here at Stratton Craig, I\u2019m fairly lucky in being able to come up with unique turns of phrase in more than one language. Japan has a bit of a reputation for being difficult to understand, and that applies to the culture as much as the local parlance.<\/p>\n\n\n

Language barriers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

\u2018Lost in Translation\u2019 is more than a film title \u2013 subtle nuances in speech sometimes say more than the sentence itself. \u2018Let me think about it\u2019 is quite often used when the speaker really means \u2018no way in hell\u2019, and if you manage to get a direct \u2018no\u2019 out of someone then you\u2019re really in trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n

The Japanese name for an idiom is \u2018kotowaza\u2019 (\u3053\u3068\u308f\u3056), which itself just means \u2018proverb\u2019. Not quite as exciting a meaning as these:<\/p>\n\n\n

The example from this blog\u2019s title is \u2018kamo ga negi wo shottekuru\u2019, typically shortened to \u2018kamonegi\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n

(\u9d28\u304c\u30cd\u30ae\u3092\u3057\u3087\u3063\u3066\u6765\u308b)<\/p>\n\n\n

It means \u201cWhat a stroke of luck!\u201d or \u201cHere comes a sucker” – but literally means “A duck approaches, carrying a leek on its back”.<\/p>\n\n\n

Tasty wordplay<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

In another food-based example, if you want to tell someone to hop it, then you could always say \u2018toufu no kado ni atama wo butsukete shine\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n

(\u8c46\u8150\u306e\u904e\u5ea6\u306b\u982d\u3092\u3076\u3064\u3051\u3066\u6b7b\u306d)<\/p>\n\n\n

It\u2019s a little long, but the translation\u2019s longer: \u2018go bash your head on a block of tofu and die\u2019. Nice.<\/p>\n\n\n

Have you ever heard that \u201choney is sweet, but the bee stings\u201d? If you\u2019ve heard it in Japanese, you\u2019ll be more accustomed to saying \u2018I want to eat fugu, but I value my life\u2019: \u2018fugu wa kuita shi inochi ha oshi shi\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n

(\u30d5\u30b0\u306f\u98df\u3044\u305f\u3057\u3001\u547d\u306f\u637a\u3057\u3057)<\/p>\n\n\n

The general gist of both of these phrases is that actions have consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n

And if you\u2019re stuffed to the gills with kotowaza at this point, I\u2019ll leave you with \u2018benjomeshi\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n

(\u4fbf\u6240\u98ef)<\/p>\n\n\n

It\u2019s a word that\u2019s lost in translation, with the meaning \u2018eating lunch in a toilet cubicle to avoid interacting with other people\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n

More from Stratton Craig<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

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