The quick or short Language Questions Thread (not grammar)

I assume this is the Manga version of 氷菓?
I’ve only read the book, but it looks way too similar to be something else, lol.

たとえば勉学にもスポーツにも色恋沙汰にも
とにかくありとあらゆる活力に興味を示さない
「灰色」を好む人間だっている

  1. 「興味を示す」means “to show interest” in something. Pretty close to the English expression, actually.

  2. To understand the first sentence (にも、にも) you must realize its conclusion is in the second sentence, becoming:
    勉学にもスポーツにも色恋沙汰にも興味を示さない
    Not showing interest either in study, in sports or in “love affairs”
    The にも is then just a に asked by the verb and a も to mean “and also”, no special grammar construction.

  3. とにかく works like an “anyway” of sorts. Here it’s being used to make clear that the first sentence was just a couple of examples, but his actual point is that there are people who show interest in nothing (ありとあらゆる)

In the end it’s just Hotaro being fancy to say he is not “pink” as the other high school students who are young and full of life. He is a “gray” soulless person with none of the interests people expect from high school students.
(ok, I added the soulless by myself)

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So I’ve run into 七色 twice now and the jisho definition is… long winded? Would it be reasonable to just refer to this idea as a “prismatic” or “rainbow” like coloration, or even just “colorful”?

Where are you seeing that?

image

I guess it’s a matter of english/perception on my end. That phrasing is just… clunky to me? When I was looking up prismatic I ended up with definitions relating more to the function of prisms and the separation itself rather than just referring to a collection of colors. So I was trying to figure out if that concept could be simplified down a bit.

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Oh, I thought you literally meant you saw “long-winded” as a definition for 七色 and I thought there must be some hang-up somewhere. Never mind then.

I don’t think it really matters how you want to translate it in context, Jisho is just giving you the core meaning. It’s not generically colorful, it’s those 7 colors based on that context. You wouldn’t use that definition verbatim in an English translation of it.

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The weblio definitions do emphasize the specific seven colors:

赤・橙(だいだい)・黄・緑・青・藍(あい)・菫(すみれ)(紫)の7種類の色. 太陽光線をスペクトルで分けたときに見られる色。

You know, ROY G. BIV (I’m impressed at how directly that maps across the languages)

In context though, it’s like saying “rainbow-colored” in English. If you talk about something that has those seven colors… then it’s rainbow-colored.

“All the colors of the rainbow” could also be a good, less clinical-sounding English dictionary definition, I think.

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Thanks guys! The distinction between generically colorful and emphasizing those colors was what got me. Honestly, I’ve never consciously differentiated between them in English despite there being a big difference (eg. I would never point to say, a dress of blue, red, green, and yellow flowers and refer to that as rainbow). It makes a lot more sense now.

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from an article at nhk easy news

今年の10か11までに、[ワクチン]をけたいみんなに注射ちゅうしゃできると

that part 10か11 までに,

the か is short for から?

か means “or” in this context. See also https://jisho.org/search/か (the entry without kanji).

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FYI, if you click the “details” link below each entry in the search results, you’ll get a direct URL for that entry.

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Oh, thank you :slight_smile:

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It’s already been explained, but I’d just like to suggest a way of thinking about it so か as a question particle and か=‘or’ don’t have to float around separately inside your head:
か fundamentally expresses an amount of uncertainty. That’s why it’s used for asking questions. Now, something that’s uncertain is definitely not the only alternative. As such, when you say 10月か11月, you could see it as ‘October? November’→’October? Or maybe November’→’October or November’. What you’re doing in this transformation is essentially removing the questioning tone and just leaving the uncertainty behind. That’s why か can also mean ‘or’.

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I actually got confused because of まで.

usually those articles when they use ‘until‘, they have a ‘from’. Now I realize even with this uncertainty they can use まで.

I have to pay more attention :sweat_smile:

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That’s true! I see where you’re coming from. But yeah, in this case, it was something else.

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までに is “by”, not “until” like まで.

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but ‘by’ has the same meaning as until no?

a teacher says “I want this composition delivered by monday”

I didnt now about までに now I can pay more attention if I see it on articles.

Until is continuous, ending at a certain point - I want you to visit my parents until 10PM means you’re gonna go there now (or at a previously established time) and not come back until 10PM.

By is a momentary thing, meaning something happens before a certain point - I want you to visit my parents by 10PM means you’re getting there at 10PM at the latest.

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One way you can remember it is that に has a pointing function and tends to mark a specific period or point in time, so here, 〜までに is ‘in the period until ~’, hence ‘by’.

Did typing out that example not make the difference clear? Would you say “from” when using “by”?

“I want this composition delivered until Monday” would be nonsensical.

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sorry

not a native english speaker here and I have heard and used that way many times before