Most recent Japanese word you've learned?

月夜つきよ moonlit night
雨雲あまぐも rain cloud
かぶ stump
すなあらし sandstorm

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小田原評定おだわらひょうじょう - fruitless discussion
The origin of the word is quite funny, and it’s an expression I never knew I needed until reading it.

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麺麭屋パンや - bakery
The fact that it apparently is never read めんぼうや, but 40% of the time is read like ベイカリー is wonderful.

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I’m not sure we can say it’s never read as めんぽう, just that if that was the reading the author intended they don’t seem to add furigana.

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True, “never” was a bit hyperbolic. There is even one example on the site that has that reading (funnily enough, it appears to be from a translated version of Homer’s Iliad). Many of the late Meiji to Taisho Era authors seem to like パン as a reading though.

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Two in one, thanks to @trunklayer:

だんボール - corrugated cardboard. I knew the word, but I didn’t know it had a kanji spelling!

つめとぎ - scratching post/cat nail sharpener. 爪 and ぎ were both new to me on their own, too!

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ちちんぷいぷい - phrase used to comfort children when they’ve hurt themselves
I learnt it from the Sayuri Saying podcast

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I recently learned 体当たり through Satori Reader, which means ramming attack / hurling oneself.

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もみあげ - sideburns, tuft of hair extending below the ear

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I meant 〆, back when I posted this most of Yomiwa’s dictionaries didn’t list 〆.

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I see, I knew you were talking about 〆, but didn’t realize you were referring to just Yomiwa. 〆 is mentioned in the entries for 締め切り in all of my paper dictionaries, so that’s why I was confused.

I used to see Japanese people write it all the time when I was an ALT.

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WaniKani context sentences

  • 掛かり付か つけ・かかりつone’s regular …; house …
    (commonly written using kana)

    • 掛かり付か つ(one’s) regular doctor; family doctor
  • 別居べっきょliving apart; separation

Japanese language cafés

  • 賛否さんぴyes and no; for and against

    • 賛否両論さんぴりょうろん1) pros and cons, reasons for and against; 2) mixed reception
  • 安楽死あんらくし (active) euthanasia

  • 尊厳死そんげんし (passive) euthanasia (i.e. by withholding life support, “pulling the plug”)

  • 目のやり場め ばplace to look (i.e. when averting one’s eyes)

    • 目のやり場にこまる・not knowing where to look (due to awkwardness, etc.)

JLPT practice

  • 文房具ぶんぼうぐstationery

  • また1) to step over, to cross; 2) to span, to bridge, to saddle
    (commonly written using kana)

  • またが1) to mount, to straddle; 2) to spread over, to extend into
    (commonly written using kana)

Nichijou

  • あお1) to fan, to cool oneself off with a fan; 2) to fan flames (literally or figuratively), to incite, to agitate; 3) to drive up prices

  • 微動びどうslight movement, slight tremor, quiver

    • 微動だにしない・to be motionless, to not budge, to not move an inch

How AI Stole the :sparkles: Sparkles :sparkles: Emoji (video)

  • 切っ掛き かmotive, impetus, chance

  • 記号きごうsign, symbol, mark

  • 最先端さいせんたんcutting edge, state of the art

Pimsleur

  • 太鼓橋たいこばしarched bridge

Dragon Quest

  • 血を引ち ひto be descended from, to be heir to

  • さずかるto be awarded, gifted, blessed with

    • さずける1) to award, to gift, to grant; 2) to teach, to impart (knowledge)
  • 化身けしんincarnation, avatar

  • 松明たいまつtorch

  • 買い揃か そろえるto buy (a set of items)

  • 竪琴たてごとharp, lyre

  • 城塞じょうさいfortress, stronghold, citadel

  • 玉座ぎょくざthrone

Other

  • 成分せいぶんingredient, component, composition

  • らすto chastise, to discipline

    • 懲らしめる・(same as above)
  • レス・reply, response

  • 為替かわせcurrency exchange

    • 為替相場かわせそうばexchange rates
  • 駄々だだをこねるto throw a tantrum, to whine

  • イチャイチャ・getting all lovey-dovey, canoodling, making out


So, I actually wrote much of this post months ago, so some of the things here (like かかりつけ医) are from all the way back then, while others (like イチャイチャ) are Supes McFresh (as they say in the States).

Some things have changed for me since then:

  1. I’ve stopped studying for the JLPT. After checking the registration page regularly for years, and daily in the weeks before registration open, I actually waited a few days before registering because I was drowning in work … and it turned out that was enough for every seat for every level to fill up. I guess I wasn’t the only one who was eager to take it.
    I definitely felt a bit dejected, but on the plus side, it means I can focus on things I actually find more fun. Just the other day I finalized my hotel bookings for this year’s Japan trip, so I’m more focused on a) casual conversations and b) good karaoke songs.

  2. On the topic of casual conversations: At a language café back in February, I noticed that my listening and speaking ability seemed to have declined quite a lot since my latest trip to Japan. As such, I’ve been focusing on that. I’ve started going to a regular language café near me, joined the local 日本人会, and started going to a lot of Japan-related events. On top of being good for my Japanese learning, it’s been a great way for me to get out more and meet people.

I’ve also started using Pimsleur’s Japanese audio courses. I was quite skeptical towards at first, but I’ve grown to enjoy them; they’re great for long walks. I started out at level 4, which I’ve found is easy enough to keep up when walking briskly but still challenging enough that I can’t allow myself to zone out.

Lately, I’ve been on Gotland, where I was planning to do a lot of walking and listening to Pimsleur and various Japanese podcasts. Unfortunately, however, I’ve been sick all week, so I’ve spent a lot of time playing old games instead. The first one I completed was Dragon Quest for the NES, which is my first game in the series (not counting the Monsters spin-off series.

I was happy to find that for the most part, I was able to make my way through Dragon Quest without checking the dictionary all too often. Granted, there were some archaic or super-formal expressions (such as いずこ instead of どこ and しとうございます instead of したいと思います), but for the most part, it was fairly painless.

That being said, it did take me a while to realize that the 復活の呪文 that the king recited was not actually meaningful dialogue, but rather a string of kana encrypting your game state, since the original NES game didn’t have an internal battery or memory.

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I just learned the word まっくろくろすけ

It’s these guys
image

You can also say すすわたり but my coworkers all agreed with まっくろくろすけ as the most common.

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Dragon Quest 2

  • 牢屋・jail, gaol (somewhat archaic)
  • 湧く・to well (up), to gush (out)
  • ならわし・custom, habit
  • 一足違い・bare miss, just missing somebody (i.e. because they left a place just before you got there)

Love Quest

  • 健やか・vigorous, healthy, sound
  • ねんね・beddy-bye-byes (baby-talk for “sleep”)
  • 野蛮・savage, barbaric, uncivilized
  • ねるとんパーティー・social event for singles (similar to a 合コン)
  • クリソツ・ identical, the spitting image
  • 風上にも置けない・disgraceful, a disgrace to one’s peers
  • 口ずさむ・to hum (a tune)
  • 厳か・somber (atmospher, i.e. at a funeral)
  • ゾッコン・head over heels, madly in love
  • 麓・foot of a mountain
  • 口移し・word of mouth
  • シカト・ignoring someone, ostracizing somebody, cutting somebody out
  • キセル乗車・cheating on train fares by only paying for the start and end of the journey
  • ギャラ・appearance fee (short for “guarantee”)
  • ガッツポーズ・winner pose, fist pump
  • 猥褻・わいせつobscene, dirty, indecent
    (commonly spelled using kana)
  • 待ち伏せ・ambush, lying in wait
  • 余計なお世話・none of your business
  • 目の黒いうち・for as long as I live
  • 肩こり・stiff shoulders
  • 殺到・rush, flood, deluge
  • トンズラ・fleeing, running away
  • だらしない・slovenly, sloppy, untidy
  • おまけに・on top of which … / and to make matter worse …
  • 未練・lingering affection (i.e. after a break-up or rejection)
    • 未練がましい・not knowing when to give up, not knowing when to move on
  • 後ろ髪を引かれる・doing something reluctantly, holding back from doing something
  • 呟く・to murmur/mutter/grumble

Other

  • しきたり・ (traditional) custom/practice
  • 沼る・to get hooked (on a video game, TV show, etc.)

Still sick like a dog, so while my head isn’t as sharp as I’d like it to be, at least I don’t feel any guilt over spending a decent chunk of my lucid time playing old video games.

I’ve kept up my journey through the Dragon Quest series, and like its predecessor, it’s fairly easy to follow along.
Regarding the word 牢屋, it seems to be a pretty archaic term for a jail, which fits with the sort of old-timey language used in these games. I also found a post on HiNative suggesting that it’s still used in a jokey way, such as when parents threaten to lock their children up in 牢屋 if they don’t behave.

Love Quest is a very interesting game. Its name might give you pause, but aside from some dirty jokes sprinkled in here and there, it’s just a sweet game about a guy looking for his missing fiancée.
… no matter how many hostesses he has to charm in order to get to her.

The game contains a lot of meta humor, and I found it interesting that as early as 1995, it was apparently possible to make jokes about JRPG tropes and popular JRPG series (such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy).


I spent a lot of time wondering what it was meant by “Don’t stay up all night doing エ○エフ”. I was sure that it was some innuendo (maybe ○ = ロ), I’m pretty sure it’s just “Don’t stay up all night playing Final Fantasy.” All references I’ve seen to real games and people have been censored.

The game takes place in Tokyo in the 90’s, and has a lot more dialogue than DQ1/2 (presumably because it’s an SNES game and can afford the extra memory), including a lot of slang and casual expressions. As such, it has a lot of words and expressions that I think may be quite useful in day-to-day conversations.

That being said, some terms do seem to a bit too tied to the 90’s. For example, I doubt I’ll ever need to refer to a ねるとんパーティー among people my age or below. That being said, I found it so intriguing that I just had to add it to the list.
Apparently, there used to be a variety show on Fuji TV called ねるとん紅鯨団.

If you don’t know what a “Nelton Red Whale Team” is, here’s the break-down:

  • ねるとん comes from swapping the syllables of とんねるず (“Tunnels”), the owarai group that hosted the show.
  • The show served as a successor to another show, 上海紅鯨団が行く, which is where the 紅鯨団 part of the name comes from.
    For completeness’s sake, I guess I should also explain what the heck that title is supposed to mean, but I feel like I’m deep down the rabbit hole enough as it is.

Originally, ねるとん紅鯨団 mostly served as a continuation of 上海紅鯨団が行く, with many of the same recurring segments. However, eventually a new matchmaking segment ended up stealing the show, until it became an all-out dating show.

This inspired people to hold “Nelton parties”, based on the show. They apparently usually followed a sort of speed-dating format. The female participants would sit at a table. The men would circle around them, so that every pair of people had about 3-5 minutes to introduce themselves.
Then, everybody would write down on a card which of the participants they were interested in getting to know better, and hand the cards in to the organizers. If any of the participants matched, the organizers would then connect them with each other so that they could exchange contact details.

クリソツ is a verlan of そっくり, and carries the same “spitting image” meaning. No idea if it’s still used, though.

風上にも置けない is an interesting expression. It seems it can be used simply to mean “disgraceful”, but perhaps the more interesting use is to say that one is a disgrace to a particular group. For example:

男の風上にも置けない。 (“You’re/He’s/I’m a disgrace to all men.”)

The game used 口移し to mean “word-of-mouth”, but Jisho mentions it can also mean “mouth-to-mouth (resuscitation)”. It also mentioned mouth-to-mouth/beak-to-beak feeding, but I figured figured that meaning probably isn’t very common.
However, when I went to Google to check if the word is still commonly used, I mostly found pictures and articles about people kissing with food/drink in their mouths.
So … maybe I’ll stick to 口伝え for “word-of-mouth”.

I swear I’ve learned シカト in the past, but I had to look it up, so I’m counting it as a new word. It means “to ignore somebody”, and apparently comes from the fact that the 10-point deer card (鹿十) ordinarily shows a deer with its head turned back.


A former スケバン talking in her sleep.

The terms キセル乗車 and キセル乗り come from a type of pipe with a casing on either end.
Traditionally, キセル乗車 consists of going from station A to station D, using a ticket from A-B to go through the entry gate and a ticket from C-D for the exit gate.

bild

Finally, let me round off with an example sentence for おまけに.


I’d say none of this applies to me, but playing this game probably qualifies me for the last point. But points 1-2 are only somewhat true!

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Azumanga Daioh

  • 多感・impressionable, sensitive
  • 準優勝・finishing second, being the runner-up
  • 安直・1) simplistic, not thoroughly considered; 2) inexpensive, cheap (dated term)
  • 生還・returning alive
  • 胡散・suspicious, shady, fishy
    • 胡散臭い・suspicious, shady, fishy
  • お下げ・1) wearing one’s hair in braids; 2) braid, pigtail
  • そこはかとない・a hint of, faint (of a sense, feeling, smell, etc.)
  • 逸話・anecdote
    • 逸話的・anecdotal
  • 色物(系)・joker, entertainer, funny guy

Onegai Muscle

  • LDK・combined living room, dining room and kitchen
  • チョモランマ・Mount Everest (less commonly used; based on the Tibetan name, Chomolungma)
  • 二頭筋・bicep(s)
  • 胸筋・pectoral muscle, “pec(s)”
  • 本舗・main store, head office
  • 負荷・1) burden; 2) load (i.e. on barbells)
  • 調節・adjustment, control
  • 全開・opening fully, going all out, full throttle
  • 大腿・thigh
    • 大腿筋・thigh muscle, femoral muscle
  • 秘訣・“the trick/key” to something; secret method
  • 見せつける・to flaunt, to show off, to make a display of
  • 脚線美・the beauty of slender female legs
  • 肩幅・shoulder width
  • くっ付ける・to put together
  • 収縮・contraction, shrinking, crunch
  • はち切れる・to be filled to the point of bursting
  • 取れたて・freshly picked/harvested (vegetables, fruit), freshly-caught (fish)

Love Quest

  • 生意気なまいきimpertinent, saucy, cheeky, impudent
  • 伊達・1) elegance, dandyism, having style; 2) affectation, putting on airs, doing something for shor
    • 伊達メガネ・fake glasses, glasses worn as a fashion accessory
  • 地上げ・land sharking; buying up land to resell for profit
  • 取り仕切る・to manage/run (i.e. a business) all by oneself
  • 漲る・1) to overflow, to swell, to rise high (i.e. water level); 2) to be filled/brimming with (emotion, energy, etc.)
    (commonly written using kana)

Other

  • 合いの手・interjection, interlude
  • 補正・correction, revision
    • 思い出補正・nostalgia filter, viewing the past with rose-tinted glasses
  • 美化・beautification, glorification
    • 記憶の美化・nostalgia filter, viewing the past with rose-tinted glasses

Azumanga Dai-Oh

So, I’ve started watching あずまんが大王 again. This time, I’m focusing a lot on writing down and analyzing all of Osaka-chan’s Kansai-ben, but I’m also listening more intently in general, so I’ve picked up some new words.

安直


This word is used when Kasuga Ayumu, still on her first day or so in a new school, receives her new nickname: Osaka
She reacts to this by saying 「そんな安直な」, which the anime subs translate as “Just like that?”

Interstingly, Jisho lists the “inexpensive” sense of this word as a “dated term”. Looking around online, it doesn’t seem all that uncommon, although the “simplistic” meaning seems slightly more common.

One source mentions:

最近では、「いい加減である」という意味で使われることが多くなっています。

Recently, the “careless” meaning has come into frequent use.

そこはかとない

It seems there is some discussion as to what this word originally means. Some suggest that the は is the topic particle, even though it’s pronounced “ha”. Others suggest that はか refers to a landmark or guide (which I think may in turn be connected to the “progress” meaning of はか, but I’m not sure).

Example from the show:


Osaka-chan explaining why she believed an obviously made-up story.

Although the show used this term as an adjective, it seems it may be more common to use it as an adverb. For example in this sentence from the interwebs:

空気の中に、そこはかとなく夏の気配が含まれているような気がします。

I sense a hint of summer in the air.

色物(系)

This doesn’t appear to be a common word for an entertainer, but in the show, it’s used by somebody to suggest that something somebody says must be a joke:

Guy A: “Out of Kurosawa-sensei and Yukari-sensei, who do you prefer?”

Guy B: “Oh, that’s easy! It’s … (notices Yukari-sensei standing right next to them) Yukari-sensei, of course.”

Guy A: “Hahaha, what? You some sort of 色物系?”

Apparently, 色物 originally referred to a sideshow as part of a more traditional performance. Some sources add the detail that on signs and posters, the main acts would be written out in black and white, while the side-shows would be in color.

The term can also be used to refer to a product or business that isn’t a company’s main focus.
It can also be used for anything that’s outside the norm. One site translates it as “unorthodox”:

彼は色物扱いされた

He was treated as unorthodox.

Onegai Muscle

It’s now only 100 days until October 16th, which is when I’ll be boarding a plane to Japan! Yay!

This means I need to practice three things:

  1. Running (for a half-marathon I’ll be doing over there)
  2. Speaking Japanese
  3. Singing karaoke

Unfortunately, I hurt my foot while exercizing, so step 1) is currently on a bit of a time-out. Fortunately, though, I can still combine 2) and 3), and why not do it with a song about exercizing?

Well, arguably, the answer to that question is “Because the lyrics are mostly muscle groups and weird training lingo that you won’t have much use for.”
… which is a fair argument, but it’s also a dang catchy song, so I’d like to learn it, anyway.

LDK

This is a bit of 和製英語, standing for “(combined) living room, dining room and kitchen”. It’s used to indicate the size of an apartment. For example, a 2LDK has two bedrooms and third room that serves as a living room, dining room and kitchen.

Apparently, 腹筋ろくLDKエルディーケー is a cheer you might hear at body-building match-ups; instead of saying somebody has a six-pack, you’re saying they have a whole friggin’ 6-room apartment …
… plus a combined living room, dining room and kitchen, which some have pointed out actually makes it a seven-pack.

In fact, a lot of the interjections – or 合いの手 – by the male singer in this song are specifically bodybuilding cheers, which is why a lot of them seem so nonsensical at first glance. Like, what the heck is a 筋肉本舗? “Muscle HQ”? “muscle flagship location”?
Bodybuilding cheers are practically a lnaguage of their own, which is why you can buy illustrated dictionaries explaining them.

脚線美

This is an odd one. I honestly can’t think of a situation where I’d use this, and if I hear it spoken I’ll probably consider some homophones (stern of the passenger ship? the end of the queue of customers?). Still, it’s such a unique word I just had to make note of it.

And hey, it has a Wikipedia page, so I guess it’s notable.

Love Quest

生意気

Obligatory Yu-Gi-Oh example sentence:

漲る

It feels like the み in this word is probably from the same root as the み in 港 and 源, but it’s hard to say for sure; I haven’t found any sources to back it up. Still, it might be useful for mnemonic purposes; the “water’s cut” is high today.

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倍速 to speed up something (podcast, movie, recording etc)

from the Easy Japanese podcast (March 7, 2021) where he’s talking about speeding up the foreign TV series he’s been bingeing on so he can get back to his ordinary life.

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(鼻が) むずむず = tickly nose
from Easy Japanese Podcast (March 8, 2021)
Conversation with another person about the use of onomatopoeia in Japanese.

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Vocabulary

Only My Railgun

  • 加速かそくacceleration
  • 放物線ほうぶつせんparabola
  • りん(と)・1) cold, frigid; 2) dignified, elegant, refined
  • きらめくto glitter, to sparkle, to twinkle
  • くる1) madness, insanity; 2) irregularity, deviation, being out of order
  • 切り裂き さto cut off, to cut up, to tear to pieces
  • はかなfleeting, faint
  • 色褪いろあせる1) to fade (in color); 2) to become less vivid, to grow stale

Bahamut Lagoon

  • かたい・prudish, boring, square, uptight
  • 野望やぼうambition, aspiration
  • 切っても切れない・inseparable (esp. bond, relationship), joined at the hip
  • あゆむ・1) to walk; 2) to tread (a figurative path); 3) to proceed towards a goal
    • あゆみ・1) walking, pace; 2) course (of one’s life, etc.), development
  • 編成へんせい1) composition, structure; 2) formation (i.e. troops)
  • 精々せいぜい1) at best, at most; 2) one’s utmost, with all one’s might
  • 気取きどり・1) pretension, affectation; 2) acting like, posing as
    • 人気取にんきどり・publicity stunt, bid for popularity
  • 操縦そうじゅうsteering, piloting, flying
  • ひるがえ1) to turn over (transitive); 2) to change one’s mind/perspective, to retract (one’s testimony); 3) to fly a flag
    • ひるがえ1) to turn over, to flip (intransitive); 2) to suddenly change (i.e. attitude, opinion); 3) to flutter, to wave
  • 反旗はんきstandard of revolt, banner of rebellion
    • 反旗を翻す・to rise in revolt
  • 早回はやまし・fast forward (i.e. VCR), scanning, spinning rapidly
  • かかげる・1) to put up (a notice, sign, etc.), to fly a flag
  • 土産話みやげばなしtales of one’s travels
  • 待ち兼ま かねる・to wait impatiently for, to barely be able to wait
  • 一番乗いちばんのり・leader of the charge, the first to arrive
  • 蹴散けちらす・1) to kick about; 2) to rout, to scatter (an enemy, a crowd)
  • 大人おとなびる・to (look, sound, behave) grown-up
  • 旗艦きかんflagship
  • 厳重げんじゅうstrict, severe, stringent
  • つつある・to be in the process of doing
  • 孤島ことうsolitary island
  • ばかり・in name only
  • 祖国そこくmotherland, fatherland, native country
  • 旅の空たび そらaway from home, while traveling
  • 食い止く とめる・to hold back, to keep at bay, to stem the flow of
  • 要塞ようさいfort, stronghold
  • 戦火せんかthe horrors of war, wartime destruction
  • 覇気はきspirit, drive, ambition
  • 制覇せいはconquest, domination
  • 陥落かんらくfall, surrender, capitulation

Other

  • 振り付ふ つけ・choreography
    • 振付師ふりつけしchoreographer
  • 去就きょしゅう1) course of action; 2) leave or stay
    • 去就に迷う・to be at a loss as to what to do

My ramblings

Only My Railgun

This has recently become one of my favorite anime themes. The vocabulary isn’t too difficult and it’s clearly enunciated, making this quite a good song to practice with.
… although I still haven’t figured out how to pronounce “Looking the blitz loop this planet to search way” in a way that’s singable.

煌めく

This seems to be another verb in the -めく family.

Verb Meaning Possible cognate
きらめく to glitter, sparkle, gleam きらきら
はためく to flutter, wave はたはた
ときめく to palpitate, throb, beat fast どきどき
わめく to scream わぁぁぁ!!!

儚い

Of course, when you come across an adjective word ending in -nai, you’ve gotta try to figure out what its secret positive counterpart is.

In this case, it seems to be the old word はか meaning “guide” or “landmark”, related to the verb はかる … and, I would assume, to the expression そこはかとない from my previous post, which feels very Baader-Meinhof (the frequency illusion, I mean; not the terrorist group).

Bahamut Lagoon

I’ve always wanted to play Bahamut Lagoon; I’m a bit fan of Square-Enix, TRPG:s and dragons, so this is right up my alley.
The dialogue is definitely proving to be a bit of a challenge, though; I’ve only had one proper battle, and I’m already getting FFVIII flashbacks from all the vocabulary about troop movements, rebellions and evil empires. I might have to let this one rest for a while while I play some less dialogue-intensive games.

野望

A bit of a curious one: Using 望 in a word for “ambition” makes sense, but why 野?
Well, apparently the Chinese word means “(literary) to look off into the distance in the open country”.
I don’t know the full history of the word, but for mnemonic purposes, I’m going to imagine a lowly peasant out in the field with nothing but their hopes to get them through the day. Perhaps they look out over the fields and think “One day, this will all be mine.” Or perhaps they think “One day, I’m gonna get out of these fields. I’m gonna to Macau and become the world’s best door-to-door belly dancer.”
Either way, they have ambitions and aspirations.

翻す

This word is quite similar to 裏返す. I wonder if the ひる part might be connected to ひら; “the surface changes/returns”.

早回し

Oh hey, I got one of those, too!
One of the characters was about to give a big speech, and the game asked me if I’d like to 早回し past it.

大人びる

Apparently, the -びる is a fossilized suffix roughly meaning “seem/act like”, and has a cognate in many verbs ending in -ぶ, such as 学ぶ (真似 + -ぶ ≈ “to act imitatively” ≈ “to learn”). Not very useful knowledge, but neat, notwithstanding.

名ばかり

Some useful examples:

  • 名ばかりの社長 = a nominal/titular ruler
  • 学者とは名ばかりだ = He is a scholar in name only

戦火

Not to be confused with its homophone, 戦果 (military gains). Flames of war bad, fruits of war (arguably) good.

Japanese Wikipedia has an interesting article on 戦果アギャー, referring to Okinawans who stole things from American military bases during the occupation.

覇気

It seems you can say 覇気を出す to mean something like “to show drive/amibition/spirit”. I guess this is one case where you really don’t want to omit the を.

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Today I learned 姉 (older sister) which is a lovely complement to 妹 (younger sister) in terms of their kanji. I’m using these mnemonics:

While your younger sister is playing around pretending to be a jet plane (妹), your older sister is busy at her high-flying job in the city (姉).

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Not quite the right topic maybe but…

I’ve known of drinks called スカッシュ for a while, but I just assumed it was wasei eigo.

Turns out “squash” is a word for a type of drink in English. Never heard of it before trying to figure out what the origin of the Japanese word was.

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