(The increasingly less) Daily senryu thread

Wednesday, August 3, 2022


Previous senryu

  1. 痩せていた証拠のスカート捨てられず
    やせていた・しょうこのスカート・すてられず
    This skirt proves that / I once was skinny! / It won’t be tossed

Notes:

Very interesting grammatical point brought up by @superelf94 and @pm215. Somebody please correct me if I’ve got anything wrong, but the verb ()てられない can either be passive (“was not thrown away”) or potential (“will not throw away”). Like @pm215 I simply assumed the latter, but @superelf’s translation using both passive and potential form (“won’t be tossed”) seems both accurate and possibly intended.

Current senryu challenge

Volume: Intense

  1. あの娘には二度も結婚先越され

Hmm. Not 100% sure I understand this one at a glance, but it sounds awfully gossipy.

Unlike yesterday, I believe the ()され is purely passive (“was surpassed”).

What’s it called when the final る is dropped like this (越される→越され)? (どう)名詩(めいし) (a gerund)? Or is it still acting as a verb? (My grammar is terrible in either language.)


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! Questions and comments are as valued as translation submissions.

Please try not to be disappointed if your translation isn’t selected or if you disagree with the daily choice: the judge isn’t terribly consistent with his grading (and has awful taste!).
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.