Leech Squashing

緯線 : けいい : passage of time + latitude = details
経緯 : いせん : latitude + line = parallel

this one is so ouchy for me

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Eminem can rhyme leeches with b**ches.

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At least 緯線 is straight-forward, the lines of latitude are called parallels because they are parallel to the equator. It doesn’t mean parallel as in parallel lines (平行).

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That first one always gets me, but for the second one, I always think of it like this:

What do you know about all those latitude lines? They are all parallel to each other!

EDIT: Welp, seems I got Leebo’d by acm2010

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Somebody kill me.

勝敗 : Victory + Failure = Outcome
勝負 : Victory + Defeat = Match

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そして、勝負の勝敗は。。。

アイルランドの勝ちだが、クルム選手はスニッチを取りました。

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Hey. I saw this post a few weeks ago (I realize it’s from a long time ago), and had to look for it again to thank you. These pictures really stuck in my head - I was really having trouble with these two (honour and glory) before

Thanks again

I FINALLY figured out a way to make my brain remember the difference between 化ける and 化かす!

With 化ける, you bake (ば+け) a cake, transforming ingredients into cake!

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I just can’t remember 近日

I always want to say the other day or yesterday or something like that,…how can i remember that this is something in the future.

You learned 近々, yes? That’s a synonym of 近日 in Japanese. They both refer to the near future.

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I will try to link that in my mind, thanks.

I’m just now learning the terror of leaches. The really old ones like 近々 and 早々 with meaning seemingly plucked out of thin air, so much difficulty working out the reading of 人 and 場/所, the order of kanji being difficult to remember other than things like 公 tends to come first, except when it doesn’t, and some kanji has really similar meanings and context - 競う and 争う. Some of these are more often problems on Kaniwani than Wanikani, but are still quite demotivating. I think at some point I’ll just need to spend some time searching for all the difficult ones - perhaps it’s like 7 x 8 = 56 in the way there’s no method to remember and your brain just needs to see it enough it’s embedded.

I’ve also noticed some close misses - I’m sure 研究 and 究明 would be difficult if not for hearing 研究所 quite a bit in Steins;Gate.

I could see this kind of thing for ateji like 寿司 (すし), but 近々 means “soon” and 早々 means “immediately” which have fairly clear ties to the concepts at their cores.

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I knew a guy with 寿司 tattooed on his leg.

I could see this kind of thing for ateji like 寿司 (すし), but 近々 means “soon” and 早々 means “immediately” which have fairly clear ties to the concepts at their cores.

That might not have been the best way to put it. The meaning are similar, but it always feels like there are so many ‘similar but not quite meanings’. 早々 means ‘immediately’, but could also be reasonably guessed as ‘soon’, ‘quickly’ and ‘earlier’ and it’s difficult to guess which it is consistantly.

There are so many words with slightly different meanings related to the near future, so I often get mixed up which is referring to which.

Ah, glad I found this thread. I’m having a bad experience with 名字。Anyone have any tips for exceptions like this?

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You mean that it’s read みょうじ instead of めいじ?

Some other characters share the readings めい and みょう as well. They are related to each other, just differing based on when the reading was imported from China.

明日 is みょうにち, not めいにち (when it’s not あした or あす, of course, which is another issue as well)
寿命 is じゅみょう, not じゅめい
冥加 is みょうが, not めいが

Anyway, I think repeated exposure to these kinds of situations will make it seem less like an exception.

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Ah, good to know that it is at least a repeating pattern! That at least helps for me to spot it in the future as well, and understand why it happens. Thanks @Leebo!

My most frustrating ones that have been showing up in my reviews every single day.

Mix up reading and meaning:

  • 科 、料

Mix up meaning:

  • 人類、人種
  • 変事、事変
  • 理論、論理
  • 社会、会社
  • 分類、区分
  • 確率、比率、正確 (these three are particularly cruel)
  • 紀元後、紀元前
  • 説明書、証明書 (I absolutely hate these two)

Get the meaning wrong (kanji/word and wrong meaning):

  • 列, row
  • 罪, guilt
  • 存じる, to exist
  • 余裕, abundant
  • 町, village
  • 里, village
  • 村, town
  • 報告, news

Get the reading wrong:

  • 心底、しんぞこ (I always think there’s a rendaku)

Just forget the meaning:

  • 交わる
  • 結局
  • 取り分け
  • 取り決め
  • 合う
  • 非常に

When WaniKani introduced 理論 and 論理 in the same level I felt like that was such a cruel joke. Same for 人類, 人種 and 変事, 事変. I just wish I could erase them and never look at them again.

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Some that frustrate me to no end:
化学 科学 (I know this can be differenced by looking at the kanji in front and the meaning of it, but still frustrating because i mix them all the time)
見返る 見返す
研究所 研究室

I also keep mixing transitive and intransitive verbs constantly (写す and 写る receive a special mention) and also some radical names (“lid”, “roof” etc.)

公 i also always mix up whether its “public” or “official” and with some of its vocab as well

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