Interesting words in Japanese

[Sbabbari]

I was just wondering about more words you consider to be "untranslatable" or hard to translate. I have always had trouble, for instance, trying to explain what ”????”?was in English. Sure, there are some translations, I just don't think they're very good. (Theres another example I was thinking of, but it escapes me at the moment)

Anything to add?

[hapacheese]

I think your encoding is screwed up, because all I see are ???s. =\

[Pierrot le Fou]

MAC USERS! You CANNOT input in IE or safari if you want to use Japanese! Get firefox! Oy!

Hard to translate words:
- shitsureishimasu
- otsukaresamadesu
- yoroshiku onegaishimasu
- itadakimasu (before a meal)
- yamato damashi
- wa

[CopraSanctum]

Don't forget this classic example: Moushiwake gozaimasendeshita

Other example: Dou itashimashite

[Frankey-eh]

uso
I'm stuck between "really?", "Lies!", and "no way!"

masaka
same thing. "Don't tell me..." or "Could it be..."?

What do you think? Which translation is better? (Don't tell me it depends on the context. I strive to be consistant in my translation. If there's inconsistancy, it just means my translation is bad.)

[Pierrot le Fou]

Most of it is contextual.

The problem is, 'otsukaresamadesu' has no English translation regardless of context. At least I can't think of one. It's just so...Japanese... Same with most of the other's on my list.

[Jim3001]

I've always been fond of Zakenayo.

[seijihuzz01]

Most of it is contextual.

The problem is, 'otsukaresamadesu' has no English translation regardless of context. At least I can't think of one. It's just so...Japanese... Same with most of the other's on my list.

related: gokurosama ~ like otsukare, but reserved for superiors talking to subordinates. Kinda like 'thanks for your efforts, well met m'boy' or something...

bizarre terms for foreign stuff: 'hotchkiss,' which is apparently a brand of stapler, but was the word adopted there instead of 'ステープラ' for some reason...

I also like how 'genki/genki?/genki ga nai' all use the same word, but it means (somewhat) different things in each, esp when translated.

[Firefly]

the whole wa/ha thing just completely hurts my brain.

my teacher loves to be confusing. Since some things you can't do good translations for, she'll say:

"shitsureeshimasu- say when leaving! But be poilte and say when entering, because its poilite to say, forgive me for my intrusion, which is why you say it while your leaving! impress your teachers and say it when you knock on their door. When you leave."

And the class falls silent.

[atomiton]

Shitsure shimasu when you enter. (i'm about to do a rude thing... [enter the room, and thus interrupt something])

Shitsure shimashita when you leave. (I have done a rude thing [by inconveniencing or intruding on you])

[nice gaijin]

^^ similarly, ojama shimasu/shimashita when visiting someone's domicile.

[4letterwords]

pretty much most of mine were mentioned... Tadaima... kinda... and yappari... yappari means like as I thought... but also, not really... like... as I predicted? but kinda different

[atomiton]

ittekimasu!
Jama! (you're in the way, something is intruding)
sugoi! (it can be used in so many ways)

and of course.... ganbatte ne.

[Varia]

onomotopeia words are awesome
tekitou
chikan
enkou (enjokousai)
various different words for you/I

There are a lot of nifty words, but I can't think of many off the top of my head.
________
1960 ford history (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/1960_Ford)

[Yokohama]

Shitsure shimasu when you enter. (i'm about to do a rude thing... [enter the room, and thus interrupt something])

Shitsure shimashita when you leave. (I have done a rude thing [by inconveniencing or intruding on you])
And also, you can say that 'Shitsurei shimasu' when you are leaving from work/office/..etc. That is the shorten form of 'Osakini shitsurei shimasu' means that 'I am leaving and sorry to go before you.'

[Sbabbari]

and yappari... yappari means like as I thought... but also, not really... like... as I predicted? but kinda different

Yeah, that's what i was trying to write in my OP. I love the word, it's my favorite, but i can't think of a solid translation.

And "uso" is liar/lies.

[Sayaka]

Not necessarily interesting, but something to point out.
I don't like the characters used to represent husband, (ご)主人. It literally means "master". Although there is 夫, which also means husband.
The word "chigau", which means to be different, but also to be wrong.

[tatsurou]

Yeah, that's what i was trying to write in my OP. I love the word, it's my favorite, but i can't think of a solid translation.

And "uso" is liar/lies.

I always used "uso" as just lie and "usotsuki" as liar.

[atomiton]

romaji for husband: shujin
romaji for wife : kanai (literal kanji used means: inside)
romaji for wife : okusan (someone else's) lit. meaning: deep inside/interior
those word are equivalent to the english : housewife... which is really only offensive to some who think it's derogatory... which it isn't... it's a choice.

more common are: otto and tsuma

[Animeband]

arubeito is from German "Arbeit" meaning to work. I always thought that was interesting.

iie doesn't always mean no. At least from what I've seen.

[nice gaijin]

I consider yappari to be something along the lines of "but of course" or "as (would be ) expected." Another one is sasuga...

just remembered this one: 一生懸命 isshoukenmei, can't really directly translate it's usage.

[Jon885]

edit: woops. nvm.

[Ketay]

I consider yappari to be something along the lines of "but of course" or "as (would be ) expected." Another one is sasuga...

just remembered this one: 一生懸命 isshoukenmei, can't really directly translate it's usage.

Hmm, we always learned 一生懸命 as Diligence and 一生懸命に as Diligently. Not sure how accurate that is... (Then again I can't even give a definition for Diligence in english... =P)

In a story we read, there was some phrase that our teacher had to call several Japanese people in Japan for a definition, because most of them had no idea what it was... "いっぽんこうきこんころりん” (Not sure about spelling). I'm always going to remember the phrase though.

[Frankey-eh]

I always used "uso" as just lie and "usotsuki" as liar.

While this might sound natural in Japan...
Ａ：昨日、うちで火事があった。
Ｂ：え？うそ！大丈夫？
This conversation will not.
A: Yesterday, there was a fire at my place.
B: What? Lies! Are you okay?

[nice gaijin]

I guess if i had to translate it, it would be something like "with all your might/the hardest you can" like 「一生懸命頑張ってね」 (isshoukenmei ganbatte ne) or 「一生懸命努力しなさい」 (isshoukenmei doryoku shinasai)... I suppose using 'ni' would be alright, but I've never heard anyone use it in such a context.

I'm not sure what that phrase is, could you consult the story and copy it here? perhaps it's a kotowaza?

as for uso, if i were to translate it in a casual sense, it'd be like "no way," or "really?" Kind of like slang "maji/maji ka"

[Ketay]

I guess if i had to translate it, it would be something like "with all your might/the hardest you can" like 「一生懸命頑張ってね」 (isshoukenmei ganbatte ne) or 「一生懸命努力しなさい」 (isshoukenmei doryoku shinasai)... I suppose using 'ni' would be alright, but I've never heard anyone use it in such a context.

I'm not sure what that phrase is, could you consult the story and copy it here? perhaps it's a kotowaza?

as for uso, if i were to translate it in a casual sense, it'd be like "no way," or "really?" Kind of like slang "maji/maji ka"

Well the phrase first was translated by the third person my teacher talked to as "Something old people say", but then the first person he asked had questioned a few friends and came back saying that it was a "taunt" like "Nane nane boo boo" (which I can't spell). I'll have to find that story... Though it was from last year's Japanese class so it's probably long gone by now.

Things like 君（くん） and such can be hard to translate... Especially for people who ask what it is but they don't know a drop of Japanese... I mean, some things like "San" and "Sama" are kind of easier since you can give examples of "Mr" and "Your Highness" (or lower maybe), but with くん　And　ちゃん it gets annoying. =P

[tatsurou]

While this might sound natural in Japan...
Ａ：昨日、うちで火事があった。
Ｂ：え？うそ！大丈夫？
This conversation will not.
A: Yesterday, there was a fire at my place.
B: What? Lies! Are you okay?

In that context it could just be used as "You're lying" or "You're kidding".

[Frankey-eh]

"You're lying"
So American actually use that? (an honest question. I'm not American) That's a first...

[nice gaijin]

nobody I knows says "you're lying" unless that's what they mean; we'd say "no way," "no jokin'," or "you're kidding." The meaning is lost if it is directly translated.

[tatsurou]

Well, when someone said something to me in Japanese that was out of the ordinary or I wanted to just joke around, I'd say "ほんとう？うそ!", even if I knew they were telling the truth...mainly in the "you're joking / you're kidding context". They seemed to get the idea of what I was saying, but yea...it probably does lose some of it's meaning and sounds better to me.

[Henjin]

本真かいな!

Eh, eh?