For the third time I gave a little presentation on Japanese language studying. Here are some of the many resources that inspired me to do the presentation. Continue reading ‘A Little Set of Resources’
Archive for the 'Japan' Category
Driving around Japan you’ll often see adorable signs, some featuring popular characters, which read 飛び出し注意, which makes it basically the equivalent of a “Children at Play” sign. Big difference is a lot of them seem to be home made instead of professionally. Last week I watched a drama which makes these signs now bring a bit of a tear to my eye. Continue reading ‘Do You Really Want To Make Me Cry?’
Damn liberal hippie neo-cons.
Or something. I’ve got to find someone to blame for my troubles over the weekend and it may as well be someone who doesn’t exist so I don’t have to imagine their faces piercing me every time I think of the pain I’ve experienced.
Yeah, it was that bad.
交通遺児 [こうつういじ] (koutsuuiji)
child orphaned from a traffic accident
Huh. Came across this while studying today. I think one thing that is really interesting about Japanese is how the language can easily form “words” for things we in English would require a whole phrase for. An interesting thing, although is that the German language does this as well, although using the Roman alphabet we employ in English. If I remember correctly from my High School German class, a “Sunday afternoon walk” is Sonntagsnachmittagsweg. Interesting how languages can do so many similar things while being nothing alike.
This one comes in honor of my recently married friend over at tQ Studios.
粗大塵 [そだいごみ] [sodaigomi] (1) oversize garbage, bulky rubbish, (2) (slang for) husband
I still love getting slang out of the dictionary because you know that it will be the bleeding edge of wit and timeliness when you unleash this hot nihongo all over someone’s face. On the plus side I get to learn large complex words that people tell me I’ll never need to know. I’m still not sure why I’ll never need to know some words if I want to be fluent in a language, but maybe they are just being nice since I still sound slightly retarded when speaking Japanese.
No, I’m not expecting but a while back I said I was going to try some translating of Famicom games. I poked around stuff and picked out Silva Saga but it seems like it has already been done. I never got around to playing Silva Saga but poking around playing it and trying to hack it was a fun experience on both counts. So perhaps if I find some time I might play the game1 and work on some other game.
- In Japanese, of course! [↩]
Dragon Quest 9 released today to much fanfare and crazy long lines, if you’re in a big city in Japan. For the rest of us in good ol’ Nippon not so much.
I can’t really blame people for thinking all of Japan is Tokyo. Most Japanese just think of New York or wherever they may have visited one time when we talk about the States. So I tend to not get to annoyed. Of course there is good fun to be had in the shocking of systems when it comes to what people tend to think about things. Stuff? What’s the vague word here to use. Anyway. So today when I saw people begging for line-up photos for Dragon Quest 9 I decided to oblige.
Yep. Big line out in front of the Lawson’s where I reserved my copy. Actually, the guy in front of me also was getting a DS game along with his coffee and breakfast but since it was wrapped up in plastic perhaps he was picking up his copy of Hayarigami 2 DS: Toshidensetsu Kaii Jiken a few days late. Yeah.
So no big lines, no girls dressed like Dragon Quest characters, no meeting Yuji Horii1 but I did get the game really fast. And breakfast at the same time! What convenience.
Game is pretty damn good, by the way.
- Creator of Dragon Quest [↩]
出っ尻 [でっちり] (detchiri) protruding buttocks, big butt
I have never heard this term used but I have to wonder if it is because it is because it is not a commonly used term or Japan’s lack of big booty babes.
ダッチワイフ [datchiwaifu] (1) life-sized doll used for masturbation (trans: Dutch wife), (2) cage (rattan or cane) used in bed in the tropics, (3) bolster used for warmth when sleeping
I think I can get enough for this weekly segment just by searching for in the dictionary for the word “use”.
Japan is infamously known for a few things, one that may have slipped past your radar is the love pillow. Whether or not this lady of the Netherlands falls into the pillow category or not I cannot quite say. What I can say, though, is that one walk through a sex shop in Japan should really open one’s eyes into what sexuality really can be.
ガム (gamu) chewing gum.
ゴム (gomu) gum, rubber, (2) (abbr) eraser, (3) (sl) condom.
The second word ゴム has a closer pronunciation to the one I’m used to for chewing gum. Interestingly enough the word for chewing gum in Japanese uses a different pronunciation. Similar to how we English speakers may call a condom a rubber, the Japanese word for rubber is used as slang for condom as well.
Needless to say, I have confused the two words and asked the girlfriend for a condom while she is holding a pack of gum.
