表現. A set phrase used commonly in the Japanese language.
Questions tagged [expressions]
668 questions
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Explanation of the expression 気が済まない
A: 百均に入ると、何もいらなくても何か買わないと気が済まない人っているんだよね。
B: いるいる。僕だよ。
A: At the dollar store, there is always somebody who has to buy something even if they don't need it.
B: Yes, yes! That's me.
I am told that 気が済まない means "won't be satisfied unless," or when…
yadokari
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What exactly does この通{とお}りmean?
I know that その通り can mean "Exactly" or "That's right". But I was watching an anime (Samurai 7) and heard one of the characters say "この通り" and something else right afterwards which I didn't catch.
For context, the scene was the governor of the city…
dotnetN00b
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How do you express "try"?
I know that -てみる can mean "try", but my understanding of it is that it means "try it and see what it's like" or "give it a try". But is there a way of expressing "try" that emphasizes that effort was made to succeed?
As an example, saying "I am…
rurouniwallace
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How to respond to ポイントカードが宜しいですか。
When I am paying for my goods at a supermarket or konbini, the cashier always asks me that question. On dictionaries, the meaning of 宜しい is "fine / good" and it made me confused, "What is good about the point card?"
Then I assumed that they actually…
mawgumelar
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Definition and use of やれやれだ
Can anyone explain the expression やれやれだ/やれやれだぜ ?
I saw it in a written journal entry to mean "Thank heavens!", and on further investigation have seen it translated as "Good god!" as well as "Sigh." It's probably an outdated expression, but could…
yadokari
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What's up with the weird word order in 乞うご期待?
乞うご期待 is a set expression that means "Don't miss it!"
What's up with the weird word order? If I interpret this to really mean ご期待を乞う, then I can't think of any other circumstance in Japanese where the object of a main verb can follow the verb.
jogloran
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What is the Japanese equivalent of 'you're in my heart'?
According to this, the translation would be:
あなたは わたしの こころに います。
That seems simple enough. However, the same source claims it's not in use, and recommends the following instead:
いつも あなたのことを おもっています。
I don't get how it's the same.
The first one…
Viola - dummy paladin
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what does「今夜が峠です」mean?
When i was reading an entry about 暗峠 the writer mentioned an expression using 峠 which is「今夜が峠です」, they said that when a close person is seriously ill and are on their deathbed this expression is often…
Moune
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Discrepancy between Tae Kim's Guide and Tobira in regards to 思われる。
I'm just wondering if someone could help me with what seems to be a difference between Tae Kim's Guide and what I've read in Tobira. In grammar point 2 from chapter 4 in Tobira, it says that "考えられている usually indicates an opinion arrived through…
Thomas Cheney
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What does 「ハイきた。」 mean?
Also seen as 「ハイきたぁ～！」.
Maybe it's used among young people.
It seems to express the idea that you have achieved your expectations, or something like that.
I hope someone can explain it better.
Yoroshiku.
daniel tomio
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こんにばんは as a greeting
I just had someone say this to me. I'm pretty sure I know what it means already but I came here to confirm if I'm correct or not.
こんにばんは is a combination of こんにちは and こんばんは.
こんにちは is what you would say if you meet with someone for the first time or…
Lord of Gall 胆 Bladder
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Japanese equivalent of "Thanks anyway."?
In English, "thanks anyway" is a common way of acknowledging the other person's effort/attention even though the end result wasn't satisfactory to the person doing the thanking.
For example:
Thankee: Here, have a piece of cake that I made.
Thanker:…
Gall Bladder
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Nuance and conversational use of なきにしもあらず
In a story I am reading, a woman (who I assume is in her 20-30s) uses the expression:
なきにしもあらず
A simple dictionary lookup shows this means something like:
ないわけではない
少しはある
While this fits the context, I am surprised why a younger person would be…
Locksleyu
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How can I express "you make a.../you'd make for a..."?
Do you know the English expression, "you make a"?
It's pretty simple:
You make a fine wife.
It might be more correct as
You'd make for a...
but they're tenses are different then. I could be using it incorrectly, but that's okay.
I saw my friend…
Louis Waweru
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My friend said she says "やる時やる." a lot. What's the translation to english?
やる時{とき}やるじゃん！ (Yaru toki yaru jan!)
I think the meaning is something like "When you want to do something, you do it".
Or maybe, "When you are about to do something, you just do it."
This is a positive expression?
Does it mean you have confidence in…
daniel tomio
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