(The increasingly less) Daily senryu thread

I would have assumed his brother

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It is in the Ladies volume…

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The ladies would be the people doing the asking.

おにいさんがいるの でしょうと よくきかれ

I often get
asked, “Is your big
brother around?~”

I don’t think the gender of who is being asked is important here. Either way the brother is definitely an イケメン is the vibe I get.

2 Likes

にいさんが いるのでしょうかと よくきかれる

3-4-3

I’m often
asked: “Have any
elder bros?”

In other words, she’s being hit upon…

Just out of curiosity, I made duckduck go do a search on 女性に「兄がいるか」と聞く理由 that unearthed vast amount of information. Enough material to fill a pop psychology paperback, as in this page. Apparently, women with an elder brother are desirable to Japanese men.

Who knew translating 川柳 would open my mind to the vast and wondrous psyche of contemporary Japan’s mores. :grin:

Good illustrative examples.

2 Likes

Thursday, July 14, 2022


Previous senryu

  1. 兄さんがいるのでしょうとよく聞かれ
    にいさんが・いるのでしょうかと・よくきかれる
    I’m often / asked: “Have any / elder bros?”

Notes:

  • :confetti_ball: to @LaVieQ

  • TIL! “Apparently, women with an elder brother are desirable to Japanese men.”

  • This is why I enjoy these so much. It’s as much about learning cultural things as linguistic things. I am enormously entertained when I learn the relationship between watermelons and sumo, or that women with older brothers are considered attractive/desirable in Japan. That we uncover these things in just 17 mora amazes me. (By “we” I mostly mean @LaVieQ, @Myria, etc. — folks who clearly know what they are about! :smile: )

Current senryu challenge

Volume: Ladies

  1. スカートのホックつかんでくしゃみする

I think this our first one without any kanji.

No hints because the two katakana words are in most JE dictionaries.

Once again I feel confident that there is no hidden meaning and this is an easy one to translate. Once again, I expect to be proven wrong!


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.

3-4-3 translation:

Grabbing the
clasp of my skirt
while sneezing

So, it won’t come undone? pop off? leave an imprint on the skin? All of these seem unlikely… :thinking: Not sure what it is trying to say, except for capturing an odd gesture.

That association, made all the more memorable with your picture of Chiyonofuji with a watermelon hovering between his legs, is something that I’ll remember forever. 夏の綱 :laughing:

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Googling around I found a web page that classified this one under the category of ダイエット which suggests maybe deliberately sneezing is a trick to do up a dress you’re just slightly too big for ?

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I think the author might be a little overweight and is trying to prevent the clasp of her skirt from breaking/ripping. :laughing:

Based on the googling I’m going out on a limb and guessing that you all might be a bit skinnier than me.

3 Likes

Oh, yeah, your interpretation is definitely more plausible than mine.

1 Like

Friday, July 15, 2022


Previous senryu

  1. スカートのホックつかんでくしゃみする
    スカートの・ホックつかんで・くしゃみする
    I grab the / clasp of my skirt so / I can sneeze

Notes:

  • :confetti_ball: to @pm215 and @LaVieQ

  • Since to my surprise the meaning wasn’t obvious: The implication is that the author is a little overweight and afraid of the hook/clasp breaking or the skirt ripping.

Current senryu challenge

Volume: Various Settings

  1. 看板にシーフードとあるタコ焼き屋

This makes me hungry (I spent a lot of time in the Osaka area and absolutely love those delicious little balls of molten, doughy goo). Nice to see a level 29 vocabulary word turn up in context (看板).

I’m wondering if the humor is having to clarify that the shop’s octopus is real seafood or if it’s the incongruity (snack stand vs. fishmonger).


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.

かんばんに シーフードとある たこやきや

3-5-3

Signboard reads
“Seafood.” Octopus
dumpling shop.

Poking fun at the pretentiousness of the signboard?

That’s quite imaginative. I tried a couple of pretend sneezes, and the stomach doth recede momentarily. :wink: I need to try the trick on the jeans from my 20’s that I still have. Hope springs eternal and all that. :laughing:

2 Likes

Saturday, July 16, 2022


Previous senryu

  1. 看板にシーフードとあるタコ焼き屋
    かんばんに・シーフードとある・たこやきや
    store sign proclaims / “seafood” but its just / takoyaki

Notes:

  • :confetti_ball: to @LaVieQ

  • I bet you think I’ll give up tinkering with these some day, don’t you? In this case, I just couldn’t deal with translating takoyaki as “octopus dumplings”. Dough balls maybe, but to me dumplings imply a soup or stew. Also, Coq au Vin could correctly be called “chicken with wine” but to me at least it doesn’t conjure up the same imagery.

Current senryu challenge

Volume: School

  1. 平均点下げるのいつも僕の役

Once again, I’m happy to report I could read this without a dictionary and I even think I understand the meaning. At least I don’t think there’s anything beyond the literal meaning.

Hoping to see more attempts a this one! I’ll award more points if you somehow use the word “responsibility” instead of “role” for the last word (six syllables!).


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.

へいきんてん さげるのいつも ぼくのやく

5-7-5
The average grade.
My responsibility:
Lower it. Always.

I thought of using takoyaki as such, but it is an obscure word for English speakers who’ve not been to Japan. Not that “octopus dumpling” immediately helps visualize the thing…

4 Likes

Sunday, July 17, 2022


Previous senryu

  1. 平均点下げるのいつも僕の役
    へいきんてん さげるのいつも ぼくのやく
    The average grade. / My responsibility: / Lower it. Always.

Notes:

  • :confetti_ball: to @LaVieq (shocker! :smile: )

  • Extra points and a relaxation on syllable counts for working in “responsibility”

Current senryu challenge

Volume: Intense

  1. 戦争は行かない人がやりたがり

Yikes.

I’m pretty certain there are similar expressions in English, but I’m failing to come up with one. I never served, but grew up a military brat and know many that have.


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.

せんそうは いかないひとが やりとがり

2-3-2 (やった!)

Those who
seek wars, ain’t
seen one

Warmongers, in a nutshell.

I tried to use “warmongers” but, couldn’t get down to a 2-3-2 with it…

5 Likes

Monday, July 18, 2022


Previous senryu

  1. 戦争は行かない人がやりたがり
    せんそうは・いかないひとが・やりたがり
    Those who / seek wars, ain’t / seen one

Notes:

  • :confetti_ball: to @LaVieQ (thank you!)

  • The literal meaning, of course, is that “those that don’t go to war, are eager to have them” but I like this more poetic interpretation.

  • I corrected a small typo in the reading.

  • I just noticed that I’m a few days behind on updating the spreadsheet. Will take care of it now.

Current senryu challenge

Volume: Various settings

  1. ゲイバーで妻とそっくり酔いがさめ

Well, that’s a setting. :smile:

I’m going to need to research 酔いがさめ.


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.

げいばーで つまとそっくり よいがさめ

Notes:

Looking up 酔いがさめ its full version is 酔いが覚める which means “to sober up”.
DeepL translates the last part to mean “sobering up like a drunkard” which is quite an analogy that I had a hard time understanding, but further looking into it apparently there is a place just before blacking out or being so completely drunk that you become serene? so with that in mind my translation is ,

Translation:

My wife drinks
to sobriety
at the gay bar

its a 4/5/4 but its an attempt!!

3 Likes

Tuesday, July 19, 2022


Previous senryu

  1. ゲイバーで妻とそっくり酔いがさめ
    ゲイバーで・つまとそっくり・よいがさめ
    At a gay bar: / my wife and I both / sobered right up

Notes:

  • :confetti_ball: to @superelf94

  • I think the joke is they didn’t realize it was a gay bar when they first went in.

Current senryu challenge

Volume: Salaryman

  1. レントゲン 今年の思い出 これ一枚

Another easy one to read, yet I’m still puzzling out the meaning. Maybe the joke is an x-ray image itself as a keepsake/rememberance? Or possibly the ticket with your place in line to get scanned.

Like all large companies in Japan, Mitsubishi Electric in Kitaitami (KMELCO) had to provide free annual health exams to their employees. Rather than letting the employees schedule on their own, they had a health day (usually in June, IIRC) where they brought in a small army of healthcare workers and trucks with X-ray machines, etc. Every employee queued up to get their exams. The logistics were impressive stereotypes of Japanese orderliness: blood & urine samples, weight/height checks, blood pressure checks, chest x-ray, etc. IIRC, they eventually realized that forcing everyone to get a chest X-ray once per year just in case they found something was was unwise.


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

Late submission, but since I toiled over it, it has to be inflicted on y’all… :innocent:

ゲイバーで つまとそっくり よいがさめ

3-5-3

Wife and I,
sobered up quick! In
a gay bar!!

Did the realization that they were the only hetero couple in the bar sober them up そっくり?
「ショックだったですよぉぉぉ!!」
(I felt that “quick” conveys the feeling better than a literal translation of そっくり…)

COMMENT: Hard to believe that being in a gay bar would sober one up, all the more since LGBTQ relationship have a long history in Japan and is legal, even if not vested with all the rights due a man-woman relationship. Maybe because it was just an unusual venue for the couple?

NOTE: Didn’t know that 妻 can be pronounced つま or さい. However, the latter is only used in compounds: 夫妻 (ふさい married couple - sames as ふうふ), 多妻 (たさい polygamy), 良妻 (りょうさい good wife), 悪妻 (あくさい bad wife), and other such words….

2 Likes