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Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [definitions]

定義. The precise meanings of Japanese words or phrases.

Questions seeking or discussing the precise meanings of Japanese words or phrases.

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266 questions
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"雷{かみなり}" is thunder, or lightning, or both?

In daily conversation, " 雷 " means both the lightning and the accompanying thunder as a single phenomenon, right? At night, I sometimes see lightning on the horizon, but no thunder. That is 雷, right? All the time, I hear the thunder, but not see…
Wrythe
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Meaning of 〜あれだ

_____ってあれだよね What is あれ in this context? Is the speaking making a positive or negative statement about _____?
Amanda S
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what does 自己PR mean？

I keep coming across this word often 「自己PR」when looking at applications. I'm not sure what the "PR" part means in Japanese, but in English it usually means "public relations". What does this word mean, and what does the "PR" stand for?
Chris
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Can "みたい" mean "want to see"?

Can "みたい" mean "want to see", or does it always mean "looks like"/"seems like"? If not, how would "want to see" be expressed? Specifically, assuming it has both uses, it would seem ambiguous to me here: なんだか違う映画みたいだなあ Would that be "I want to see a…
Shane
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Is 風邪 more than common cold?

Two native speakers were chatting about what kinds of 風邪 can be cured by 抗生物質 (antibiotics). I linked to an English-language study showing that common cold can not be cured by 抗生物質. To which their answer was that 風邪 is different from common…
Nicolas Raoul
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What does it mean to be "over a law"?

I was a little confused after reading this on Wikipedia article for 宇部港, a harbor in Ube, Yamaguchi: 港湾法{こうわんほう}上の重要港湾...に指定されている。 I'm really not used to reading very technical writing, so there is a (pretty good) chance that I'm way off the mark,…
silvermaple
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Meaning of "少し外す"

Can "少し外す" mean "zoned out/lost focus" I can send the source material I read it in, if that helps. Edit: For those asking for context, here its the bit in the manga:
perfectBliss
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What does つまづい mean?

What's the meaning of つまづい in this context? たとえ何があっても つまづいても迷っても
Louis Waweru
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what do the words OG and OB mean?

In my JLPT workbook, I have the sentence: 就職活動で携帯電話を重用する学生が増えている。OB, OG訪問で約束を取り付けたり、採用担当者から面接日の連絡を受けたりするのも、常に持ち歩いている携帯の方が確実とみられているからだ。 I'm not sure what OB, OG訪問 means.
Chris
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What is 我が身 and how is it justified in this sentence?

First off, I tried looking at the explanation here. However, the reasons for 我が家 don't seem to apply to 我が身. Here is the excerpt that doesn't seem to apply from Jesse Good's post: The above also applies to 我が母校、我が国、我が家族、我が妻、我が故郷、etc. They all imply…
Chris
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What does the word 性故か mean?

I found the word 性故か while reading. I tried to look at the dictionary but found nothing. Here is the entire sentence: それとも逆らえぬ性故か I don't really understand, please help!
user15813
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Meaning of うららか in うららかな午後に

Does うららか mean "beautiful" (as in "beautiful weather") in the sentence below? うららかな午後に、新木場で起きた事故で電車ビタ止まり。 Written by a Japanese colleague on our discussion server. Google Image Search does not show nice weather in particular when searching for…
Nicolas Raoul
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5
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Implication of a Japanese sentence

I was wondering if there is any context implied by a sentence like "6時に起こしてください。" I have read it translated as "Please wake me up at 6." But is "me" implied? Could it also mean "Please (will you) wake up at 6."?
ashleysmithgpu
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What exactly does 捉え直す mean?

The term 捉{とら}え直{なお}す has come up in three different essays in my JLPT practise book, and I can't determine exactly what it means. My understanding of 捉{とら}える is that it means "to catch, to capture", and my understanding of 直{なお}す is that it is "to…
Questioner
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What does 明ける mean?

What does 明ける mean? I get different definitions some say it's dawn others say it's end.
Amara Meadow
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