Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don’t need their own posts, and first time posters go here (July 08, 2022)

21 comments

1. I’m looking for a specific phrase. Back when Spoon was more of a thing in Japan, streamers used to have descriptions of what they were doing. And whenever someone just chatted and played some instruments they had a description for that (similar to ‘just chatting’ on twitch). It’s on the top of my tongue but I just can’t find it. It’s been bothering me for days now, so I thought maybe you guys know the expression im talking about.

2. Do you mine words you probably won’t see for a thousand hours of reading? For example, there was a JP word for a species of tree that I didn’t even recognize its English translation, like some technical mumbo jumbo. Is it worth mining and memorizing these.

3. Hello. I need a bit help with understanding a reply from a native. I was asking a question and they basically said yes, you’re correct and later followed up with this :

   私ですらこの「の」には強い違和感を覚えたので疑問に思った時点でtolucalakeさんの日本語力の高さを察しました.

   I get the message is that: they also felt the の in question is kind of strange and they assumed my Japanese level when they 疑問に思った? how should I understand 疑問に思った here? I tried looking the expression but just can’t seem to get it.

4. Follow up to the [u/CreepyNewspaper9’s question from yesterday’s thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/vt4i70/daily_thread_simple_questions_comments_that_dont/if6m7z1/), after answering his question I suddenly have doubt about the meaning of やつ in this context. I thought it refers to English speakers at first but I then realized that it might make more sense to understand やつ as uncommon English expressions because it compares to いいえ better. Am I wrong?

5. how many variations of the verb “to get” are there. The main one that comes to mind is 得る but are there more?

6. Learned a new word 居心地 today, is it called い ごこ ち due to 連濁(rendaku)?

   I am new to rendaku, I remember it applies to ‘two or more kanji words came together to form a compound’. E.g. 人々 (hito bito). But then why isn’t 武士 rendaku? Since 武 (martial art) and 士(warrior) are two different words?

7. In the below, what specifically is happening grammatically with the 独立して名詞になる portion? Is して modifying なる? Is して a conjunction?

   しかし、形容動詞の語幹は、独立して名詞になるものも多いですよね

   I guess what I’m specifically asking is which of the below is the most accurate literal translation of that part?

   1. It becomes a noun that is independent.
   2. It independently becomes a noun.
   3. It becomes both independent and a noun.

   If 1 is the most accurate translation, could the above have been rephrased as 独立の名詞 or maybe even 独立した名詞?

   Thanks

8. Is there any shorter way to say “thanks for ~ing” with your friends? I always feel like ～くれてありがと（うね） is such a mouthful, being 7 syllables vs the 2 syllables involved in the English equivalent.

9. Can someone please explain to me when and how wa, ga, and O are to be used? And if there is an English equivalent to help me understand?

10. I hope I can express this well. I’d very much appreciate if you bear with me.

    [Jisho.org](https://Jisho.org) a JP-EN dictionary has several meanings for the word 言葉. They range from language and dialect, to word, to language acquisition. Goodictionary (also online) has a JP-JP dictionary and one that is JP-EN: in the JP-JP dictionary, 言葉 has one meaning only “word”. In the JP-EN dictionary, it has several, like in jisho.

    I’ve encountered 言葉 a few times on series and so on, and from what I remember it always meant “word”. But I get that there may be a lot of uses, all valid.

    The JP-JP dictionary is usually the most reliable. I’m just puzzled as to why there could be such a big difference between dictionaries. I’m guessing it’s just a matter of using “word” for different contexts in which it’s perfectly understandable what you mean by it and it then can have an ample range of possible meanings. But it would be a great help if someone can reassure me about this or correct me, so that I can be sure.

    Another related question is, assuming there is indeed several different uses for the word, as I expect them to be, is there maybe a meaning that is more common than the others? An individual meaning which is the one usually meant by 言葉. 言語, for example, is usually the word for “language”; is 言葉 used for “language” just as much or less so?

    I may have a lot of preconceptions and opinions that are wrong here. Sorry in advance.

    どうもありがとうございます。

    edit: my bad. Made a mistake while surfing the online JP-JP dictionary, and what I actually found was the definition for けとば, the Eastern Old Japanese variant for ことば…

11. 今や and 必ずや just caught my eye.

     

    Are these two related, or is the shared や just a coincidence? I was wondering if there are other words (phrases?) like this that just have a や stuck on the end (seemingly to reinforce/emphasize the word?).

12. I understand this is a long shot buuut… Are there any Swedes on this subreddit and if yes, what school in Sweden did you study at? I’m starting my 3rd semester at Dalarnas Högskola after being at Stockholm University for a year. This is mostly due to the fact that I really didn’t like all my teachers, it was poorly prepared classes and the books is from 1995 ffs xD

    soooo.. I’m my question is, is there anyone who studied at DU (dalarnas högskola), Stockholm University or any other that you can recommend? 🙂

13. When using Genki and Genki II, in the first book I’m introduced that when referring to my own father I use 父、however, in the second book I’m introduced to the Kanji 親 and that if you say 父親 is father too. What’s the difference between those two ways of saying father?

14. What is the most polite way to express sympathy for the assassination of former PM Abe to Japanese acquaintances?

    I have heard ご愁傷様, not sure if this is applicable for someone neither of us would know personally?

15. In the sentence 「傘をさして歩いてください」what is 「さして」? I cant find anything on it in the dictionaries. I assume its some compound verb with する but what is さ?

16. is there like a book i can buy/youtube channel i can watch/ etc etc to help practice writing pretty kana? or anyone know of any calligraphy youtube channels or something? i want to improve my handwriting, it’s like readable but a little amateurish and fugly. i have to write often because i take japanese classes at college (for three years now), so it’s not necessarily a matter of practice it’s more like i’m doing it “wrong”. i’ve looked into practice sheets online but i can’t find any that tell you when to do swipe vs stop or whatever it’s called, so resources that include that would be helpful. it’s also ok if it all in japanese!

17. **What does おばあちゃん子 / お兄ちゃん子 means about a kid’s personality ? (MC is talking about his little sisters)**
    When reading I met these terms but don’t understand .Much thanks if someone can explain those to me !
    小さい頃から親代わりに面倒を見てきたせいか、**おばあちゃん子ならぬお兄ちゃん子になってしまったようだ。**

18. なんてことだもう意識がぼんやりしてきた

    What is exactly the difference between verb + てきる vs ことになる do they have they share a similar meaning? for instance in this sentence なんてことだもう意識がぼんやりしてきた

    Could you say なんてことだもう意識がぼんやりことになる？

19. Hello. I’ve been reading this phrase (?) quite often in comments on videos and/or blogs and I can’t figure out exactly what it means:

    “逆に怖い”

    Something about not actually being scared? Or to have been worried about something unnecessarily? Thanks.

20. On the binding of an Aotori Bunko book, there are some numbers. For instance the one I have is 300-2, titled 妖怪アパートの幽雅な日常. I’m wondering what those numbers on the binding mean.

21. I’m sure there are other previous posts about this, but if I wanted to learn japanese passively like through listening on headphones because I don’t have much time during work hours to use my phone, or even at home. Any tips or advice?