I got 160/180 when I took the N2 three years ago, so I assumed I was about intermediate level. I thought I would be good enough at Japanese by now to be able to understand most posts like this, but I still get stumped often. Sigh. [Here](https://mobile.twitter.com/hiro0725/status/1545367655351140352) is a particular post in question. I’ve bolded what I don’t understand.
📷 **胎動** 📷 **ガイドストーン**の破壊、**ボリス首相**の退任、安倍元首相の暗殺、とドミノ倒しのように物事が動き始めた。スイスのCERNによる悪魔が吸い取られた仕業か？今日、午前に投稿した物事が現実になりました。全く変化の感じれないこの国が漸く動き始める。 そして**眠った羊達**は目覚めの準備に入る。
The questions I have/what I don’t understand in this post:
1. Why is his display name 「胎動」? What does that mean/why would that word be someone’s display name?
2. What does he mean by ガイドストーン? What is that and where is it?
3. For Boris they use 首相 but how is that different from 総理？Both mean “prime minister”? Or is there some nuance.
4. Who/what does he mean by 「眠った羊達」？
Thank you for your help anyone.
4 comments
> Why is his display name 「胎動」? What does that mean/why would that word be someone’s display name?
It’s not part of their display name, it’s part of the tweet. Like the English word “quickening”, it can be used either literally to refer to a fetus, or (as in this case) metaphorically to mean something like “the earliest visible signs of something new developing”.
> What does he mean by ガイドストーン? What is that and where is it?
Google has the answer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones
> For Boris they use 首相 but how is that different from 総理？Both mean “prime minister”? Or is there some nuance.
As I understand it, 首相 is a *general* term for the chief minister in a parliamentary system of government, and 総理大臣 is the *specific* title for the Japanese prime minister, as established in the Japanese constitution. (See e.g. https://gimon-sukkiri.jp/shushou-souri/) If you’re asking about why those specific words were chosen, you would probably have to ask a political historian.
> Who/what does he mean by 「眠った羊達」？
What it sounds like: the ordinary “sheeple” who are blind to the significance of these events. In case it wasn’t obvious, the person running this account is a QAnon conspiracy nut.
>For Boris they use 首相 but how is that different from 総理？Both mean “prime minister”? Or is there some nuance.
There is a decent amount of newspaper only stuff in any language. There is a book in the Power Japanese series about how to read newspapers, and a decently large university will teach a class in it, adding in some historical readings to make it a deeper subject. Like really any country, Japan’s newspapers use a arrived upon way is saying things that allows them to avoid legal issues, and avoid controversy, and be efficient at telegraphic communication. And is often self-referential, as they are a window on a passing view rather than a reference.
元首相 was the Kanji all the newspapers used about Abe, even though in speech you are more likely to use 総理大臣. Hilariously, it is such a newspaper word that you could easily find a Japanese person wondering how it is read, even though it’s meaning is perfectly unambiguous. (I ran into one yesterday, in fact, who wondered whether it was Shou or Sou)
There is no particular nuance, just a ‘this is what newspapers use’ difference.
That’s a hillarious tweet oh my god
I know kids recommend immersion learning these days but conspiracy theories on Twitter are not the best place to start. Maybe read a book or something?