Japanese Language things

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[sangetsuei]

是非 (ぜひ) - by all means, absolutely

ぜひそれをしなさい。

Do it by all means.

[bluelightning42]

I wonder why the word for reptiles は虫類 has the kanji for insect 虫 in it?

[tokidokitokyo]

Oooh, pick me! *raises hand*

Because in ancient China they grouped everything like snakes and insects into 虫 without it really meaning "insect" but rather a garbage can term for anything not mammal, bird, or fish. So this has carried on through many other words, such as 爬虫類.

That's why you can write octopus (たこ) as 蛸 with the 虫 radical.

Some more info: https://bestiary.japanesewithanime.com/animals/mushi

[sangetsuei]

Me: I want to get back to my Japanese language studies.

Wanikani: You have 1600 reviews pending.

[sangetsuei]

Update: It's midnight and we're at 1450.

[sangetsuei]

Me: I want to get back to my Japanese language studies.

Wanikani: You have 1600 reviews pending.

[langivi]

biggest language wtf moment is when you can understand every single word of a sentence but you still have no idea what it actually means

[nippon-com]

Ishigaki Rin, Poet of Today’s Japan—and Yesterday’s

The poet Ishigaki Rin (1920–2004) lived through tumultuous years in Japan, but brought a worldview steeped in the quiet everyday of her life to the work she left behind. A look at her poetic career with translations of some of her key verse and writings.

One of poet Ishigaki Rin’s best-known works is “Hyōsatsu” (Nameplates), written, she explained, at a time when “I had shifted from being one among many to one within myself.”

Nameplates

When you live in a place nothing comes close to putting the nameplate up by yourself.

When you rest in a space the nameplate another attaches never works out.

In the hospital they added Miss to the card on the sickroom door Miss Ishigaki Rin.

If I stay at an inn there’ll be no name on the door but by and by I’ll be in a cremation oven and they’ll slam the door tight and hang a tag that says Ishigaki Rin, the Honorable— how will I protest then?

Miss the Honorable a hex on them both,

when you live in a place nothing comes close to attaching the nameplate with your own hand.

And as for the home of your soul never let the nameplate be attached by anyone else but you Ishigaki Rin that will do.

[sangetsuei]

I'm pretty sure this is not a big deal for most intermediate and even some beginner Japanese language learners, but it's a first for me and it makes me feel motivated to learn more so I'm gonna share:

I've always struggled with the onyomi and kunyomi of kanji and today, I figured out a kanji that I didn't know simply because I figured out the readings of the kanjis that make up the word.

The word was 生花　(いけばな), the art of Japanese flower arrangement, and incidentally something I find fascinating and hope to learn some day.

I'm sure most people I know would say I should have reached this milestone much earlier in the journey but it happens to be something I struggle with so I'm happy to have overcome it today.

[japanesetranslated]

猫背 (ねこぜ）

猫 (cat) and 背 (back)

bent back, hunchback

猫舌 （ねこじた）

舌（tongue)

dislike of very hot food or drink, being that person who waits till it cools cause they just can not handle hot stuff

猫の額 (ねこのひたい）

額（forehead), literally cat’s forehead

tiny area, tiny surface

猫かぶり (猫かぶり)

かぶる to put on (one’s head)

Feigned innocence or naivete, ( think of it like putting on one’s head a mask to feign innocence) 

猫に小判  (ねこにこばん）

小判 （koban, an old gold coin from the Edo period)

Casting your pearls before swine. What use is a koban to a cat? They couldn’t appreciate it (=^ェ^=)

[j-vocab]

信号無視

しんごうむし

running a red light, jaywalking

[disc80s]

someone said you can’t have depression in japan/japanese bc you can’t spell it. ✨cured✨

[kaorutakeuchi]

シマエナガ

[sangetsuei]

Anybody else really dislike katakana?

I got no problem with kanji and hiragana. Katakana letters just make No. Sense.

I get that it’s useful and all.

I just don’t like it.

[procrastinating-in-japanese]

Kanji? Piece of cake

Katakana? Can jump off a cliff

[xumodeshagua]

I still dont remember all the katakana even after years of learning

[writinredhead]

Bruh so glad I'm not the only one! I've been studying since 2014 and katakana still break my neck, especially シ ツ ノ ソ ン

[thekimonogallery]

Kimono shop “KAPUKI” in Nakameguro, Tokyo has announced a new furisode collection “Kan”. 

[ultrafacts]

Source

Click HERE for more facts!

[neko-no-oto]

バケツの中身はなんじゃろな→おいしーー。

It looks like you had a bucket full of fresh water. Good for you.

[sangetsuei]

Interesting word I came across:

物色する　(ぶっしょくする) - looking for a (particular) person or thing

Such an interesting choice of kanji! Like distinguishing in one’s thoughts, the colours of the one being searched for..

[todayintokyo]

Did you know that Christmas cake is a thing in Japan? This is the 2020 selection at Odakyu Department Store, and since Odakyu also runs a private railway, there’s a Romancecar cake. Cute train, but I rather fancy that chocolate cake at the top. :)