All Questions
15 questions
1
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1
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Understanding ハッタリ in context
Lyrics for the first chorus of Overdose by なとり are as follows:
Overdose 君とふたり
やるせない日々
解像度の悪い夢を見たい
Overdose 君とふたり
甘いハッタリ
Don't stop it music, darling
I'm trying to understand the etymology and nuance ...
- 2,795
4
votes
1
answer
207
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How did 今ひとつ get its negative meaning?
The word 今ひとつ has the surface meaning "yet another, one more", but it seems to be more popularly used to mean "not entirely satisfactory", for example:
その薬の効果は今ひとつだった。
The ...
- 6,971
5
votes
1
answer
661
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頭【かぶり】を振る and 頭【かしら】を横に振る, why the change in pronunciation?
As the title suggests, why is there a change in pronunciation between 頭【かぶり】を振る and 頭【かしら】を横に振る? As far as I can see, there is no difference between the meanings of the two—デジタル大辞泉 even lists the ...
- 3,913
1
vote
2
answers
192
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Why is あやまち written 過ち and not 誤ち?
What's the reason for writing あやまち 過ち and not for instance 誤ち ?
Wouldn't that make more sense since it means to err, be incorrect...? I can see how one would get from exceeding/overdoing a mistake, ...
- 148
12
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1
answer
669
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Differences between ひ弱い and か弱い
How did the prefixes ひ and か come about and what are the differences in meaning between ひ弱い and か弱い?
Are either of the prefixes pejorative like how ド is in the examples in dainichi's answer to '...
Flaw♦
- 20.1k
1
vote
1
answer
327
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What are the nuances between the use of 訊く instead of 聞く in the following sentence?
I know that 訊く is another way to write 聞く, so now I'm curious as to why the author of the book used it here instead of 聞く, which has been used for all previous instances in the book.
こちらから訊くより先に、...
- 1,490
1
vote
1
answer
127
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Where? Variations and usages
I have come across three main ways to indicate the idea of "where" in Japanese:
どこ
どこに
どちら
Can anyone shed light on when one is used or preferred over another? Or with what combination of word ...
- 13
0
votes
2
answers
3k
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is よう sometimes used exactly like the american greeting/interjection "yo!"?
I was reading about よう on Wiktionary and it says:
Interjection[edit] よう (rōmaji yō)
A very informal greeting similar to yo.
よう、元{げん}気{き}？
Yō, genki?
Yo! Howdy?
A very informal (...
- 4,457
1
vote
1
answer
514
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4
votes
1
answer
534
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Is there any definitional or etymological nuance between the English「Princess」and the Japanese「姫」？
Recently I've been looking into buying myself a copy of Ghiblis 「かぐや姫の物語」(The Tale of Princess Kaguya)。
Now, the first thing I noticed about the 日本語訳 is that it had a similarly annoying word in there,...
- 3,422
3
votes
3
answers
1k
views
On 重んじる and 重んずる
More from the JLPT1 vocabulary list.
I've been presented with 重んじる and 重んずる, both given as transitives and with the meaning to prize, to honour, to esteem.
Is there a difference in nuance between ...
- 187
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
how did 公 (こう） come to be derogatory
My dictionary says this word means something like "official; public" - how does the word go from that definition to being used as a derogatory suffix for animals and people?
One example the ...
- 654
28
votes
2
answers
14k
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明日: あす & あした; Is there a difference in meaning and when each is used?
Is there a difference between these two words for "tomorrow" and when each is used? (and is it just coincidence that あした sounds like the past tense of あす?)
We tend to be taught あした and then discover ...
- 10.9k
8
votes
1
answer
4k
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Why does ～なんてもんじゃない / ～のなんのって mean とても？
Both the following two expressions from my text book 完全マスター聴解N１ are explained as とても（高い／人が多かった）:
高いなんてもんじゃないよ
人が多かったのなんのって
Could someone explain what they are based on/where they come from because ...
- 10.9k
4
votes
1
answer
434
views
Is まい as in あるまい really only used in literary texts or TV?
My understanding --admittedly limited-- is that in Japanese, people say as much as they can with as little words as possible. So I wondered why ないだろう would be used in everyday speaking instead of まい? ...
- 6,826