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我ながら question

killerinsidee

先輩
14 Dec 2013
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I'm trying to figure the meaning of this adverb and I could use some help.

There are some cases where I understand the meaning of it and there are some where I don't.
I understand it in sentences like - 「一日, われながらよく頑張ったので夕食は豪勢におごった。」, 「この絵は我ながらよくできたと思う。」.
Just to confirm - 我ながら can only be used when referring to your own action? You can't say 「この絵は我ながらよくできたと思う。」when referring to the painting your friend made, for example? I'm asking because in 大辞林 it's explained like "自分のしたことであるにもかかわらず", but I don't think "自分のしたこと" refers to よく頑張った or よくできた, but rather just meaning something like "although I'm saying/thinking, etc. this...よく頑張った/ よくできた"?

I can't quite fully figure it out in sentences like - 「われながら愛想が尽きた。」, 「また昨夜飲みすぎちゃった. まったく, われながらいやになるよ。」,「こんな簡単な計算を間違えるとはわれながら情けない。」, 「その場になったら, われながら何をしでかすかわからない。」,「財布をすられてね. われながら間抜けな話さ。」
The thing in common is that the speaker is talking about himself in a negative way. What I'm wondering about is, what kind of idea is 我ながら actually adding to these sentences. The dictionaries explain it as "自分のことではあるが". For instance, in 「こんな簡単な計算を間違えるとはわれながら情けない。」, is the speaker thinking that he is "above" getting such easy stuff wrong and criticizing himself for doing so? Same thing here - 「また昨夜飲みすぎちゃった. まったく, われながらいやになるよ。」, I get the feeling here that the speaker thinks that he's "better" then getting drunk like that.
On the other hand, I have no idea what 我ながら brings into this sentence 「その場になったら, われながら何をしでかすかわからない。」

Be sure to correct me me if I'm wrong about something (pretty sure I am), so I can get to the bottom of this.
Thanks.
 
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Just to confirm - 我ながら can only be used when referring to your own action? You can't say 「この絵は我ながらよくできたと思う。」when referring to the painting your friend made, for example?
Yes, except in questions such like 君はこの絵は我ながらよくできたって言いたいの? 我ながら is said from the addressee's viewpoint in this case.

I'm asking because in 大辞林 it's explained like "自分のしたことであるにもかかわらず", but I don't think "自分のしたこと" refers to よく頑張った or よくできた, but rather just meaning something like "although I'm saying/thinking, etc. this...よく頑張った/ よくできた"?
自分のしたこと refers to "what I did today" and この絵, respectively.

"To say nothing of other people, even for me who really did it / will do it, that is shameful / that disgusts me / I don't know what I'll do." makes sense?
 
Thanks for the help.
"To say nothing of other people, even for me who really did it / will do it, that is shameful / that disgusts me / I don't know what I'll do." makes sense?
I think it does...?
So I guess what I wrote in the 2nd part of my post (the meaning of it in those sentences) is correct? Also, could you please give me an idea about this sentence 「その場になったら, われながら何をしでかすかわからない。」?
 
To go along with toritoribe-san's explanation, 大辞林 has a nice definition here that might help you grasp the full range of situations 我ながら might be used in:
自分自身を客観的にとらえて,みずからの行いや考えを褒めたり嘆いたりするさま。自分ながら。 「 -よく歩いたものだ」 「 -いやになる」

In other words, it gives the nuance of commenting (positively or negatively) on one's own actions as a third-party observer might.

Seeing as how your interpretations of the other negative examples are more or less on target, I'm not entirely sure what's puzzling you about this one. "I don't know what I'd do in a situation like that." (with the しでかす giving "do" a negative nuance along the lines of "what sort of terrible thing I'd do", "what I'd stoop to")

Under normal circumstances, one would expect to have a better idea of one's own reaction to a certain situation than an impartial observer would. In this case, the speaker is implying that such a situation might be so stressful/etc. that he can't even predict his own actions.
 
I guess I'm having a bit of trouble imagining in what kind of situation/context you would say 「その場になったら, われながら何をしでかすかわからない。」over the version without it 「その場になったら, 何をしでかすかわからない。」. All of my examples are just example sentences from 研究社, so there's not much to go by.

Edit: I just realized that I have 大辞林 第二版. *sigh*
 
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(Sorry for the double post, the "editing time" ran out.)
I thought about it for a bit and I get your point about われながら that sentence. Thanks again.
 
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