(The increasingly less) Daily senryu thread

がんばろう いきているから なやめるの

4-5-4 translation:

To be alive
is to face troubles.
Give it your all!

This one seems easy (famous last words?). Sorta like the advice I got once when I kvetched about having to pay taxes: “Just pay it already! No one went broke paying taxes.” And so, I have - only after I kvetch, though. :smiley:

It is an emphasizer! Here’s the explanation (with examples)

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Ok, I’m trying it.

I will try hard
When I live life so
What can go wrong?

My thoughts are a little different from yours, mostly the meaning of theから

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Interesting. Isn’t the second “emphasizer” example from your linked article a shortened form of のは grammatically (my possibility #2)?


Also: sorry to hear of your tax pains. I once got hit hard by AMT (but nothing as serious as some friends of mine). I think taxing on unrealized gains is evil incarnate.

The second & third examples are of emphasis when irritated (i.e. passive-aggressive):
ここにあるの。 It’s here, okay?! 今から行くの。I’m leaving now, okay?!

The next example is the one closest to our 川柳, where it is used like よ at the end of a sentence as an emphasis of reassurance/empahty:
休みが終わるまででいいの = 休みが終わるまででいいですよ = It is okay by the end of the vacation/holiday, yaknow.

My translations may not be that accurate, but enough to do the job, I think.

Sorry to hear that you were AMT’d. Thankfully, I haven’t had to deal with AMT, even though Turbotax goes through the gyration every year before deciding that it doesn’t apply. In my case, it was expat taxation torture over almost a decade. Huge, multi-weekend PITA effort to get everything right.

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Oh, man. “Thanks” for reminding me. :wink:

I’ve lived in Japan three times, but only had to deal with IRS rules for expats once. The first time I was a dependent. The second time I was paid in both currencies but the company accountants took care of almost everything. The third time, though … shudder.

I was paid in dollars and was ostensibly under a “tax equalization plan”. The company paid Coopers and Lybrand to do the accounting, and they filed my taxes in both countries in arrears.

Then I was headhunted away from that company which ended up going out of business and moved back to a different state in the US. At the same time, the accounting firm merged with Price Waterhouse. None of the people I’d been dealing with were around any longer. After three years of just letting others deal with it, I was on my own doing taxes (in arrears) for Japan, US, and two different states.

It wasn’t so much a hit to my pocketbook as it was pain and suffering dealing with all the arcana. Accounting is definitely not my bag. It took three full years until everything was completely sorted to the IRS’s satisfaction!

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You’re so right about the pain and suffering than the monetary hit.

I moved to Asia as part of a Megacorp, and my taxes for that year were done by an accounting firm. I found so many mistakes n the US tax returns, on top of missing the deadline. They charged Megacorp a pretty penny for that shoddy work too. So, the following year onward, I did it myself on Turbotax.

Sorry to bring back the nightmare memories. Enough suffering already between the two of us & so, 'nuff said.

Here’s a 川柳 in repentance: 愚痴するな 税で貧しく はならない (5-7-5) :laughing:

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Friday, June 24, 2022


Previous senryu

220: 「がんばろう生きているから悩めるの」
がんばろう・いきているから・なやめるの
To be alive / is to face troubles. / Give it your all!

Notes:

  • :confetti_ball: to @LaVieQ 先輩

  • :trophy: to @KJules

  • Colloquially, the の at the end acts as an emphasizer. As pointed out by @LaVieQ, it’s used like よ to emphasize reassurance or empathy when at the end of a sentence (and not spoken with a rising inflection). Example: 休みが終わるまででいいの “(No worries!) It can wait until the end of your break/vacation”

Current senryu challenge

Volume: Heartfelt (しみじみ編)

284: 「 父母の幼き写真見る不思議」

Finally! I had to look up a word again: (おさな). I knew the meaning but not the reading.

This one reminds me of a post I made recently in another thread! For a change, I’m nearly 100% confident on how to interpret this one (the hubris before a fall?).


Remember to please use the spoiler tag with your translation attempts! Also, please include the reading in kana with your submission.

Everyone is encouraged to participate, no matter your level!

Online tools like dictionaries, sentence databases, and even AI translation engines are fair game and can be extremely helpful. Yomichan is particularly handy if you use the Chrome or Firefox browser. The 語源(ごげん)由来(ゆらい)辞典(じてん) is also an excellent resource for researching the etymology of various words and expressions.

Here are the links to the 356 Japanese originals (spoiler free) and to the the spreadsheet with all the upcoming senryu as well as the translations to date.

1 Like

ちちははの おさなきしゃしん みるふしぎ

3-4-3 translation:

The allure
of Mom and Dad’s
childhood pics

不思議 was difficult to translate, but after looking at various dictionaries, I settled on the 4th definition in the goo.ne.jp dictionary. 怪しい means “suspicious” in a negative sense, but also means “bewitching, alluring, enchanting” in a positive sense. I thought it gives the right kind of しみじみ feeling. Needless to say, I’m not sure if it’s correct.

I didn’t include みる in the translation as it seems superfluous in English.

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Woah! We have surprisingly different interpretations.

I’m pretty sure that it’s just the plain old “strange/odd/curious” meaning of 不思議(ふしぎ).

As I said, this one seemed clear to me right away. I think it’s just describing how odd it feels to see pictures of your parents when they were young (younger than you are now). I know I have that feeling all the time when looking at old photos (most recently, one from when we climbed Mt. Fuji in 1975).

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父母(ふぼ)(おさな)写真(しゃしん)()不思議(ふしぎ)

strange feeling,
seeing mom and dad’s
childhood pics

I had the same interpretation as @Rrwrex, I think! Though I also understand translating 不思議 as “allure”, because I think the strangeness of it is compelling, haha!

5 Likes

Saturday, June 25, 2022


Previous senryu

284: 「 父母の幼き写真見る不思議」
ちちははの・おさなきしゃしん・みるふしぎ
strange feeling, / seeing mom and dad’s / childhood pics

Notes:

  • :confetti_ball: split between @fallynleaf (meaning) and @LaVieQ (reading — ふぼ would be common, but wouldn’t fit 5-7-5!

  • I’ve always felt that any photo of my parents shows them older than me, no matter how old they are in the photo or I am now. It’s impossible for me to conceive of them younger than me! I’m happy to see I’m not the only one that feels this way apparently.

Current senryu challenge

Volume: seniors

  1. 単純に祖母金持ちと孫信じ

Hmm…

A little more difficult to read (all words taught on WK, and nothing higher than level 34). I’ll be interested to see if we all have the same interpretation.

REQUEST: By the way, does anyone know of an existing script to identify the WK levels for any kanji within a string of Japanese text? I’ll probably never get around to writing something, but checking by hand is becoming tiresome — which is why I don’t do it very often.


Remember to please use the spoiler tag with your translation attempts! Also, please include the reading in kana with your submission.

Everyone is encouraged to participate, no matter your level!

Online tools like dictionaries, sentence databases, and even AI translation engines are fair game and can be extremely helpful. Yomichan is particularly handy if you use the Chrome or Firefox browser. The 語源(ごげん)由来(ゆらい)辞典(じてん) is also an excellent resource for researching the etymology of various words and expressions.

Here are the links to the 356 Japanese originals (spoiler free) and to the the spreadsheet with all the upcoming senryu as well as the translations to date.

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I use Kumirei’s Yomichan JLPT/WK info addon. This, of course, only works if you have Yomichan, but it’s really handy.

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I’d completely forgot about that! I saw it when it came out and promptly forgot about it.

[No … Actually, I installed it and then promptly forgot that I had done so! :roll_eyes:]

Thank you @Kumirei and @fallynleaf !

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たんじゅんに そぼかねもちと まごしんじ
4-5-4 version:

Simply stated:
Grandchild believes that
grandma is rich

The Story
Mollycoddled grandchild believes that grandmother is wealthy as she indulges former’s every whim and fancy. :notes: bouncy, bouncy music :notes:

Grandmother resorts to 川柳 to tell us otherwise. We imagine her headed to bankruptcy court after failing to keep up with 欲張りの孫. :violin:sad, sad music :violin:

Thus, Ladies & Gents, in a mere 13 syllables, unbounded joy :innocent:is skillfully transformed into bitter tragedy. :sob:
The End

Yes, the people in those pictures were certainly “strange/odd/curious,” but it was also charming to see my parents as youngsters (for example, as school kids): “So innocent! Fascinating! etc” The pics made me wonder about them as I did not as their son. In that sense, these people were not just strange/odd/curious, but also fascinating & interesting, because they would grow up and go on to be the adults that I knew. There was a certain desire know to the lives and times of people glimpsed through those b&w photos of times long gone. And, I have, from time to time, revisited those pictures.

All that said, I chose “allure” for the # of syllables more so than the precise meaning. Besides, the whole thing is a subjective exercise, isn’t it? :wink:

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Hah! Fantastic post. Made me laugh.

1 Like

Sunday, June 26, 2022


Previous senryu

  1. 単純に祖母金持ちと孫信じ
    たんじゅんに・そぼかねもちと・まごしんじ
    Simply stated: / Grandchild believes that / grandma is rich

Notes:

  • :confetti_ball: to LaVieQ

  • It’s increasingly obvious that the ones with a single relatively obvious interpretation are the least fun to discuss, so I’m particularly appreciative of the extra commentary on @LaVieQ’s offering!

  • I noticed that at least one person appears to be reading or re-reading this whole thread from the beginning. (That’s commendable @WovenSapling but don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me! :wink: )

Current senryu challenge

Volume: Various settings

  1. 食い逃げ追って行った男も帰らない

I love the fact that some of these I can read out loud with no difficulty but not understand, while others (like this one) I can understand (or at least think I understand) while struggling with the reading! I had to look up the reading for the first half of the sentence (but I felt foolish because it seems obvious in hindsight!).

I’d not come across 食い逃げ before but it means what you’d expect (what some Americans call “Dine and dash”).


Remember to please use the spoiler tag with your translation attempts! Also, please include the reading in kana with your submission.

Everyone is encouraged to participate, no matter your level!

Online tools like dictionaries, sentence databases, and even AI translation engines are fair game and can be extremely helpful. Yomichan is particularly handy if you use the Chrome or Firefox browser. The 語源(ごげん)由来(ゆらい)辞典(じてん) is also an excellent resource for researching the etymology of various words and expressions.

Here are the links to the 356 Japanese originals (spoiler free) and to the the spreadsheet with all the upcoming senryu as well as the translations to date.

2 Likes

くいにげおって いったおとこも かえらない

First attempt at one of these, so I make no claims for the poetry of it, but I did try to count syllables. I went for 7-7-5 like the original:

He ran out in hot pursuit / of the dine-and-dash thief but / never came back either

6 Likes

Notes

I tried to get the man and the も in the translation but it feels a lil clunky. My first attempt was something like “even those who chase the dine-and-dashes can’t go home” but it doesn’t fit a syllable count. However I am confident in that it means that even if you chase down the person who eats and doesn’t pay the bill, you also can’t go home because you are busy chasing that person. Which makes me wonder now if that means that you aren’t paying your bill either? hmm much to think about…

Attempt!

くいにげおって いったおとこも かえらない

The man who chases
those who dined-and-dashed,
too, cannot go home.

3 Likes

Tried, but failed. I woke up this morning realizing that in

He ran out in hot pursuit / of the dine-and-dash thief but / never came back either

that last line is 6, not 5. Oh well. Changing it to he never came back fixes the count but loses the translation of the も so I don’t like it as much.

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くいにげ おっていったおも かえらない
Assuming I’m reading it right, this is the first time I’m seeing a word straddling the 5-7-5 boundary in a 川柳. Is this allowed/normal, I wonder. Perhaps it is a 4-8-5 rule breaker?
The reading お for 男 is also a first for me.

3-5-3 version:

The bilk and
the man who chased - both
didn’t return.

My interpretation:

The bilk (one who bilks/one who doesn’t pay for meal/materials/service/…) and the chaser were in cahoots to defraud the establishment that was bilked. Both had partook of whatever that establishment was selling and ran away without paying, the second pretending to chase the first. If so, a very clever scheme indeed. Although, hard to imagine such a thing happening in contemporary Japan. Then again, I suppose that in a 川柳, any sort of human foible can show up, whether it happens in Japan or elsewhere… :wink:

But, then again - and not for the first time - my interpretation may well be all wrong. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

食い逃げ and “bilk,” the nominal of the verb “to bilk,” are new to me.

1 Like