It's rare that we get the chance to post a yoji that doesn't lend itself to pictures of scantilycladwomen in one way or another, but today is one of those days. These kanji don't allow it.
純 is one that I first learned in 純粋 (じゅんすい；jyunsui), meaning "pure." It has connotations of "unadulterated" but working in the school system I've heard it used to refer to the innoncence of youth. When it's used in the first compound of today's yo-ji, 純情, it becomes "purity of heart," or "naivete."
可 gets used in all kinds of compounds but think of it here like you would think of it in 可愛い. 可愛い has always perplexed me because of it's incredible descriptive range, which Google Image search will help me demonstrate: Can you think of another word that you could use to describe both THIS , THIS ,and THIS[NSFW]?
And if that's not enough, I've never been sure about the connection between 可愛い and 可愛そう. For me "cute" and "pitiful" are two very different things (BIG MISTAKE in this bit. Check the comments to see us getting owned by reader Pazu) , but in Japanese they seem conceptually linked somehow. Even the second part of today's yo-ji, 可憐, can be defined as either "sweet" or "poor," as in "poor baby."
Luckily 純情可憐 doesn't have the same ambiguity. As the definition will tell you, it's actually got a pretty narrow window of applicability.
Definition: おもに若い女性の清らかで愛らしいさま。 Translation: 1. Beautiful and pure. 2. Sweet.
I like this one because I've had trouble figuring out how to describe a girl in Japanese who, in English, I would refer to as "sweet." Using 八方美人 is risky for reasons we've already discussed, and in a small town where you stand out, it's hard enough to say something nice about a woman without setting off an 井戸端会議 about your romantic intentions.
The one time I tried to explain the ways in which English speakers apply their version of "甘い" to people the conversation became confusing quickly: I didn't know that 甘い could be used to mean generous or indulgent at the time. To compare, think of how quickly 和英 or 英和 conversations can get sketchy when a Japanese person wants to talk about a 優しい女, but doesn't know whether or not to translate 優しい as "kind" or "easy."
純情可憐 resolves these problems for me. It encapsulates what I think of as the epitome of "sweet," and its chastity cuts out any potential for inappropriate interpretation. It is mainly used to refer to women who are below the "Christmas Cake" cut-off, so I might still have trouble applying it to older women, but it's still a lucky find.
It reminds me of 箱入り娘, for obvious reasons. 例文：新人タレントは、テレビドラマで純情可憐な少女の役をみごとに演じきった。 The up-and-coming actress gave a magnificent performance in her latest television drama role, playing a sweet, innocent young girl.
そっせん すいはん sossen suihan Yet another yo-ji that highly appeals to the part of me that wishes I was まじめ, or even えらい.
率先 means taking the initiative: 人の先に立つこと. 先 is usually among the first kanji that most people learn, so I'll leave that alone and just say that 率 is a very, very useful kanji to know, because you can attach it to almost anything to make "the ______ rate:" like 出産率, 死亡率, 失業率 or 換算率. It gets used a lot in relation to percentages (出席率), proportion (倍率), and it's even one of the cornerstones of the word for probability: 確率. Plus, tiny bit of trivia, it's in the Japanese name for pi: 円周率.
垂範 means setting an example, and I'm not sure exactly why. If anyone knows how the first kanji comes into play, please comment away! Back to 率先垂範.
Definition: 自分がすすんで手本を示す。模範を見せること。 Translation: 1. To lead by example. Personally, I like to think of this one in conjunction with 不言実行, and in opposition to 反面教師.
Very, very common yo-ji for use in business situations.
例文： 日本のリーダーは“世界標準”あらず、 率先垂範から指導育成への転換が不可欠。 Japan's Business Leaders Don't Meet the Global Standard: A Change from the "Good Example" Model of Employee Training to Guided Development will be Indispensable. (trans. Nirav)
~Feelings, Nothing More than Feelings~ Part 2 of X
I know its been a few weeks (ok, a month?) since the first part of this series, but I'm a busy man, and there is all KINDS of 日本語 that's not in your 教科書 that needs to be addressed. If you've forgotten in the intervening period, this is a continuation of my last Kyoukasho Ni Notte Nai Nihongo (KN^4) post, which you might want to take a glance at as a refresher.
Today we are going to look at some 熟語 that make use of the 気 character and their relationship to other words of similar meaning. Many of them do overlap in certain ways, but I hope you'll come away from this with at least a rudimentary idea of the different nuances they all carry.
気持ち きもち kimochi
If you are anything like me, this is the first word that you learned that meant "feelings." It is both useful and common, but its meaning and usage can be kind of nebulous. The best way to think of it is your feelings as a response to some kind of external stimulus. You might get into a hot onsen and think 「気持ち（が）いい！」, or you watch someone getting facial plastic surgery and think 「気持ち（が）悪い！」 (modern slang: きもい). Check out this neko being caressed and really enjoying it:
気持ち doesn't necessarily have to be a physical reaction; it can be just a general emotion, too. Watching TV or movies, you might hear lines like 「私の気持ちはどうなの？」 ("What about my feelings?") or things like that. I know that I, personally, would one day like to be able to say, 「もてるってやっぱ気持ちいいな！」 ("It feels great being popular with the girls!"). Dare to dream, me, dare to dream.
気分 きぶん kibun
It can be really confusing trying to differentiate 気分 from 気持ち, but I think that one way of thinking about it is that it's more about internal stimuli than external. For example, let's say that you are feeling nauseous, you would probably say 気分が悪い rather than 気持ち悪い. That's because, though your nausea might have been caused by something you ate, it is now really an internal thing (literally!). Used on its own like this, 気分が悪い is generally a health-ish kind of thing. (This is another post, but I think that Japanese has an unbelievable amount of words and phrases that describe how one's digestive tract, from the stomach all the way down to the colon, feels.) Not saying that you can't say 気持ちが悪い for your health ever, but 気分が悪い, I think, works better. (For more info, check out the comments to this post.)
気分がいい, I think, isn't quite limited to health. It's used for anything that makes you feel good in a general sense, as opposed to what I see as a more pinpointed response to external stimuli represented by 気持ちがいい. Think about it this way: you might find that sitting outside in the sunshine in specific to be 気持ちいい, but when the weather in general is pleasant, your entire 気分 becomes いい. Or maybe you just won the Superbowl - that would probably make your 気分 pretty いい as well.
JB always makes me feel pretty good.
The internal/external distinction becomes a little harder to maintain when you think of other uses for 気分, but I think that the general/specific one holds up fairly well. In English, we use phrases like "king for a day." You aren't actually the king, but you do something (like go to an expensive hotel or restaurant and get waited on hand and foot) that makes you sort of feel like a king. This kind of feeling is summed up in Japanese as 王様気分. You might also see お姫様気分, or really anything you could ever fantasize about being. You could get dressed up like a geisha and be 舞妓さん気分, or you could get a chance to throw a pitch at a professional baseball stadium and be プロ野球選手気分. In all of these cases, you get treated in a certain way that simulates something else, and for a while, in your little fantasy world, your 気分 changes from that of an everyday person to a rockstar, or queen, or whatever it is you want to be. It's your own internal change that makes it relevant.
雰囲気 ふんいき; (often pronouncedふいんき) fun'iki
This isn't really a hard word to understand, but it is kind of fun, and certainly in common usage, so you should all try to remember it if you don't know it already. This is used to describe the atmosphere, aura, ambiance, or general air of a person, a store, a restaurant, or whatever else you like. Here are a few example sentences to help you get a feel for it: あなたはお父さんと雰囲気が似てるね。 You've got the same air about you as your father. 焼鳥屋のこういう雰囲気は、たまらなく好き。 I LOVE the atmosphere in yaki-tori places like this.
A long haired version of myself visiting one of my favorite yakitori places
具合 ぐあい guai
This is a rather complicated word, one with a number of different meanings. I'll try to hit as many of them as I can. In general, it means condition, shape, or convenience. This brings us to the most relevant usage, one's specific (often physical) state. You might get asked, 「具合どう？」, or "how are you doing/feeling?" Or if you aren't feeling well, you could say 具合が悪い, and it could mean a number of things - you might have a stomach ache, or a headache, or you might just be feeling unwell in general.
A:どうしたの？顔色良くないよ。 What's wrong? You don't look so good. B:ええ、ちょっと具合が悪くて・・・ Yeah, I'm not really feeling well...
That's not the only usage, though. It can be used to describe the convenience, or inconvenience, of a specific situation as well. Especially when it comes to talking about convenience, in addition to 具合 being いい, you will often see it described as うまい. (That's another word that needs its own post...)
ちょっと具合の悪い時に来られてしまった。 He came over at kind of an inconvenient time for me. うまい具合に明日は晴れらしいです。 Luckily, apparently we're going to have clear skies tomorrow.
It can also be used to describe how well (or not) something is working: 俺のパソコン、ちょっと具合悪いな。 My computer is messed up.
It might also be used to describe the ease or convenience (or lack thereof) of a using a specific tool, piece of equipment, or what have you. 新しい電子辞書の使い具合、どう？ Is your new electronic dictionary easy to use?
Another usage of this word is somewhat similar to that of 加減, which Jeff touched on in an earlier (actually the very first EVARR) 教科書に載っていない日本語 post. When used in this way, it means something like "level" or "amount." おいしいステーキの焼き具合はなんですか？ What's a good level of done-ness for steak? ちょうどいい具合に出来上がってるよ！ It [let's say some kind of food] came out just right! たった２日間しかたってないのに、もうここまでできてるとは、すごい進み具合だな。 I can't believe you made it this far in 2 days. That's amazing progress!
That does it for today's post. There are many, many more words like this that I think you should know, but this post is already long enough, so they'll have to wait for next time. Specifically, I'm thinking of doing a more in-depth examination of 加減, and having a look at 調子, 機嫌, 都合, and 様子. If there are any more that you really want explained soon, feel free to speak up in the comments! Same for if you want any clarification, or if you want to add to or correct anything I've put up. Definitely also let me know if you are finding any of this at all useful. On the other hand, if you've had enough of the ~Feelings~ series, well, poo on you (but seriously, let me know about that, too).
We're doing our best to prepare for, and hopefully, to help you prepare for the 日本語能力試験１級, but please remember: 1級, by its very nature, consists of grammar that is difficult, highly nuanced, and most of the time, rarely used in regular conversations. That's why it's important that you use our posts as references, to be compared with other study sources, and even more important that you CHECK THE COMMENTS after each post. We're lucky to receive corrections and clarifications from native speakers and other foreigners more knowledgeable than we, and they don't always make it back into the body of the post. Thanks, and 頑張って！
1級 Grammar 16-20
Another week, another set of grammar points - these ones focusing around some changes I'm going to implement to the Yoji as soon as I've ousted Jeff in a duel. PREPARE YOURSELF(Jeff and readers!)!
16. ～こととて Because of ~, Owing to ~, This phrase is particularly prevalent with a followup that has the "押し訳ない" vibe to it, ie "I'm really sorry about this, but..." or "I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience, but...". To further shock you all, I will reveal that it is mostly used in formal conversations or in writing. Surprise!
This one actually breaks down exactly how it looks - plug in the dictionary form of a verb behind it and you're in business! Try and save it for your written Japanese, though, or risk sounding a little pompous.
Ex. 精力を使うことなしにジェフを倒すと１６番の利益をゆっくりと楽しむ。
18. ～しまつだ It's come to the point where ~
This one is actually kind of fun - you list some kind of cause and effect and throw this on the end to emphasize how desperate a situation has become. 「最近、食料品を買ってないので、お腹がすいたらご飯に塩食をかけて食べるしまつだ。」 Good times. Make sure you use it when you're talking about the result of something else!
I know all of you wanted another way to say ばかり, so here you go! Put this after a noun, especially an adjective paired with こと, and you're in the money.
As promised, today's yoji came up yesterday during my research of 「ちゃんちゃらおかしい.」
Definition: この上もなくばかばかしくて吹き出したくなる様子。 Translation: 1. Exceedingly absurd. 2. Nothing could be more ridiculous.
Important to note the inclusion of 吹き出す, which in this instance means "to burst into laughter," which takes the connotation away from the realm of あほ臭い, and into the realm of knee-slapping funny.
I like to think of this one in relation to 破顔一笑, in that they both talk about uncontrollable displays of amusement or pleasure.
例文：外国人が日本について思っている一部分のイメージは笑止千万です。その人たちに「ジャパンカルチャラブ」というビデオシーリーズは役に立つと思います。 Some of the ideas that foreigners have about Japan can be laughable. In those case, the "Japan Culture Lab" series of videos can be a real help.
Did you know how funny Japanese tea was? Neither did I, until someone called me お茶目. Never content to let a potentially interesting origin story go unexplored, I did some internet research and discovered that "tea" is hilarious!
First, you should know that 茶 by itself, can be defined as "mockery," and you should know that in all likelihood, it's 当て字。Many of the kanji in the words we're about to look at are listed as 当て字 on various internet sources.
お茶目 おちゃめ ochame
playfulness; mischievousness The 茶 here means おどける.
茶番 ちゃばん chaban
farce
茶々 ちゃちゃ
disruption
茶々を入れる ちゃちゃ を いれる chacha wo ireru
to tease; make fun of
茶利 ちゃり chari
the name for funny, farcical, humorous scenes in old Kabuki or bunraku dramas; archaic, but important for us because, according to some theories, it spawned ちゃら.
ちゃら chara
nonsense; bullshit; random speech.
I don't know if ちゃら is ever used by itself, but it lends its meaning to all of the following compounds.
ちゃらほら charahora
speaking senseless lies. 「ほら」 is a common attention getting utterance, that I always thought just meant "Look!" Along the same attention-related lines though, there's 法螺: which means boasting or bragging, which is where ちゃらほら pulls in the meaning of 嘘. Or it could just be, 「ほら！You're lying!」 But ちゃらほら is thought to be the precursor of the next word, ちゃらんぽらん。
ちゃらんぽらん charanporan
off-hand, off-the-cuff, devil-may-care speech
There's an お笑いコンビ that goes by the name ザ・ちゃらんぽらん. You can see some of their stuff on YouTube, but they don't seem particularly funny to me.
ちゃらける charakeru
irresponsible talk.
This gets used with an honorific, as either 「おちゃらける」 or 「おちゃらけ.」
べんちゃら benchara
flattery
Again, use with the honorific 「お.」
ちゃらちゃら charachara
Extremely hard to define, but it covers ideas of "messing around," "showing off," "lavishing someone with flattery," "the appearance of cheap flashy clothing," and "flippant behavior." I find all of these kinds of 擬音 words hard to use (I've had some DISASTERS, putting ぎりぎり into practice), but if you want to use it, it goes along with する。
ちゃんちゃら chanchara
Probably the most commonly used of these phrases, judging by the number of internet posts devoted to it, 「ちゃんちゃら」 goes with 「おかしい」 like 'q' goes with 'u.' There are two definitions of something that's ちゃんちゃらおかしい:
1. So ridiculously funny that you can't help but to burst out laughing. Here's the Japanese definition , in case my translation is bad: 身のほど知らずで、噴き出したくなるほどおかしい.まったく滑稽だ. 2. A boast that is so brazenly untrue that it's strange/ridiculous: 身のほども知らない大言壮語を吐いておかしい.
You guys got a bonus 四字熟語 in that last definition there, and I found another one in my researches today that I'll post for you tomorrow. See you then.
Here are some of the links I used to write this post: 1 2 3
Today's yo-ji is a useful one for anyone considering going into any kind of business endeavor in Japan, as it represents, I think, one important concept in organization and philosophy. I was reminded of it last week by Jeff's 知る人ぞ知る post, although the meaning is somewhat removed from that specific phrase. (For another business philosophy phrase, see 鶏口牛後)
During college, I interned in the New York office of a Japanese newspaper, and one of the first things I noticed was that our office was significantly smaller than those of any of our peer publications. As an unpaid intern, I wasn't ever really expected to work all that hard, but it was pretty clear that the paid staff, especially the bureau chief, was working pretty hard almost non-stop. I remember talking to my boss about this at lunch one day, and he told me that the company's philosophy was to have 少数精鋭 rather than a large number of worker drones.
I'm sure our US readers all recognize this...
I don't think it'll be too useful to go over every kanji in this phrase, but I do think that the last two are worthy of our time here. First, we have 精. Rikai-chan will tell you essentially what it means. It's good to know for words like 精力 or 精気, or any of the hundreds of other words that contain it. (Yes, we'll skip that one. Maybe we'll put it up on the Nightly Yoji one day.) 鋭, meaning sharp, is another good one to know, because, as in English, it carries both the physically sharp (like a knife) and mentally sharp (like... me) meanings. Which brings us to our:
Definition: 少数の選りすぐった人々。また、その少数で事に当たること。 Translation: 1. The few, the proud, the mighty 2. The select few
例文： うちは少数精鋭主義だから、よそより人数少ないけど、実力では誰にも負けない自信がある。 We believe in maintaining a small, select group. So, even though we have less people than our competitors, we're confident that we are second-to-none in terms of ability.
We have tons of Japanese grammar and idiomatic expressions, as well as proverbs and trivia in our archived posts. Please check them out! For an explanation of the kinds of posting we're doing these days, see this post.
Living and working in Saga-ken, Kyushuu, dedicated to one day passing the 1-kyuu JLPT, and therefore being able to start on some other languages as well. Check out his Youtube Channel by clicking the picture!
Brett Staebell (Defendership)
While questing in the Rocky Mountains - only hours away from Denver, his birthplace and home - Brett discovered a magical talisman that whisked him halfway around the world to the remote island of Kyushu. Now hellbent on either finding a way home or a time machine that'll let him go back in time hundreds of years to hang out with samurai, he hones his language skills by posting on the Daily Yoji and sharpens his combat skills by pummeling the elementary school children he teaches.
Nirav Mehta (sqrtlsqd)
Nirav's only here because he's a friend. He's not really that good at Japanese, but go easy on him. He's sensitive.
Luckily 純情可憐 doesn't have the same ambiguity. As the definition will tell you, it's actually got a pretty narrow window of applicability.
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