(The increasingly less) Daily senryu thread

Oh, it’s not a computer/technical issue. It’s just that I also struggle with the hardest part of Japanese.

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Translation attempt

  1. 更にヤな事ありどうでもよくなった

さらにヤな・ことありどうでも・よくなった

I think this one translates pretty directly:

Yet once more an unpleasant thing to deal with. It’s not worth worrying about.

I parse it as follows:

  • (さら)に • More and more, yet once more

  • ヤな(こと) • unpleasant matter

  • あり • exists

  • どうでも良くなった • Became something inconsequential to deal with / not worth worrying about.

Turning that into short/long/short stanzas I leave to the more poetic among us!

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はい、僕は同じピンチもありますよ。 アイムシュア。ビッグポロブーレム。

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I thought it was more kinda a negative thing? Like not just inconsequential more “I don’t like it and it’s pointless/worthless so I don’t care” (like here)

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Ooh that

Lol use Google then「spreadsheetとは」

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It literally means “it’s good either way” (or “any way”).

That is, I don’t think it has positive or negative connotations. It means indifference:

それは私には どうでも良い 事です。

That is good either way to me.

彼がくるかこないかは私には どうでも良い 事だ。

It makes no difference to me whether he comes or not.

I wanna try again, having been inspired by you guys:

again and again
can hardly stand it, but meh
you get used to it

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Is there a chance you’re both right?
I’m wondering if it’s like the way in English we can use “it doesn’t matter” to be both literal like @Rrwrex is saying, and defeatist/negative like @GearAid is saying.

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There’s at least an equal chance that we’re both wrong. :smile:

In this case, the author has already expressed negative feelings (ヤな) about the matter. I believe the last part of the sentence means they don’t care how the matter is resolved: any way is good. In English, I’d express that as being something not worth worrying about.

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There are lots of things which literally mean something neutral but have positive or negative connotations, so I’m not sure that makes a difference

See a quote from this article

「どうでもいい」という言葉は、文字通り「どちらでもいい」と受け取られることは稀です。多くの人は「めんどくさい」「興味ない」と言われたのと同じだと受け取るでしょう。
The phrase “どうせもいい” is seldom understood as literally “どちらでもいい.” Most people will take it the same way as “めんどくさい” or “興味ない.”

Also see the part about 「どうでもいい」と言う人の心理:

「どうでもいい」と言う人は「混乱」「無気力」の状態
People who say “どうでもいい” are in a state of apathy or confusion

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I think I’m losing the fox here.

Let me tentatively concede that どうでも良い (or “doesn’t matter, either/any way is as good as another” for that matter) has a slightly “negative” connotation of not liking whatever it’s applied to, how does that affect the translation of this senryu? We already know they dislike the matter at hand (やな(こと)).

If I read the sections for どうでもいい on the page you linked correctly, they are:

  1. Implies not valued or of no interest

  2. Examples of expressing you have no interest? (What in the HECK is クッション()?!!)

  3. Implies “Whatever. Anything’s good.”

  4. Implies “Either is good.”

  5. The state of mind is confusion or apathy

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Another data point :wink:

だけど、結局はどうでもよくなるんだ

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I always feel like どうでもいい is one those expression that change a lot just based on tone. A ま、どうでもいいね can be a light “ah, whatever/it’s fine”, but then if someone growl どうでもいいわ!! I feel it’s more like “I don’t give a shit!!”. I’m not sure what’s the level here … but maybe a bit more toward the apathy/numbness when bad things are piling up?

Also I’m a bit confused why the writer use two casual expressions ヤな事/どうでもよくなった, but then in the middle あり. Doesn’t is sound weirdly formal ? :thinking:

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I was completely confused when I clicked the link before reading the text!

Now I have to find the lyrics! :slightly_smiling_face:

Edit:

Aha!

One thing, I don’t know why
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try

Nope. It was this bit:

[Chorus: Chester Bennington]
I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end it doesn’t even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end it doesn’t even matter

努力したんだ 今までにないくらいに
だけど結局はどうでもよくなるんだ
全てを失って崩れ落ちたよ
だけど結局は どうでもよくなるんだ

Nice find!!

I’m going to say this “doesn’t even matter” translation is pretty close to “not worth worrying about”. I’m feeling more confident.

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Absolutely!

I’m not sure, but I think it’s just more emphatic that way, a definite end to the thought. ある would beg for a けど or something.

I would kind of expect ヤな事あってどうでもよくなった to match the tone, but I’m still terrible at knowing when and why people use 連用形 instead of te-form. :sweat_smile:

Based on @alo’s find, I’ll submit this 4-5-4:

Here yet again
unpleasant business
doesn’t matter I just don’t care

Because it affects the last part of the poem. If it’s just like “whatever” in a truly neutral way, then the unpleasant thing could be just “not worth worrying about,” but knowing that どうでもいい has more of an “annoying/agh whatever” connotation to it would change the translation accordingly to like “not caring” or “fuck it” or like “doesn’t matter”

  1. Yes
  2. Essentially
  3. It’s a quasi-synonym (類語) so kind of? The article says なんでもいい has a bit more of a positive connotation
  4. Yeah
  5. Yes

Language that you use to make requests/objections/rejections seem softer/more polite. Like “I’m sorry for taking the time out of your day but…” or “I can see why you might think that but…” or “It’s hard to say but…” (申し上げにくいのですが…)
Graphic:

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Also: very important fact about クッション語:
Independent of people with normal-sized heads, people with extremely tiny heads compared to their giant bodies don’t know how to use it.

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I’m honestly confused how this is more or less negative than “not worth worrying about”?

Even the sources you cite just say it mostly has a negative connotation. I don’t think it’s quite that black and white.

My question is that since we already know definitively that the particular (こと) at hand has a negative vibe (やな(こと)), how would ending with “anything is good” be so different from “i don’t care” anyway?

P.S. Thanks for explaining “cushion” language. First I’ve heard the term, but you’ve described it well (and it’s quite familiar!).

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