Need a word or phrase translated?

[Achilles 1-1]

This time I am wondering how to say I am "good at" something, for example, "I am good at ping-pong." All these years I have been saying 上手 (jozu) and sometimes I say うまい (umai). But to my surprise, Google Translate says neither, it says 得意 (tokui). Which one is most common in conversational Japanese?

I thought Umai meant good as an a food is good?

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

I feel like if I'm talking about myself in Japanese and wanted to say I'm good at something I would use 得意, but only under certain circumstamces. My experience has been that if you compliment yourself, it sounds bad. Therefore, I feel like I might prefer to say できる instead.

 

[mdchachi]

I thought Umai meant good as an a food is good?

It has that meaning but like many English words it has additional meanings too. It can mean "good at" also.
See here. Note, the kanji is the same as for じょうず (上手).

I feel like if I'm talking about myself in Japanese and wanted to say I'm good at something I would use 得意, but only under certain circumstamces. My experience has been that if you compliment yourself, it sounds bad. Therefore, I feel like I might prefer to say できる instead.

I agree with Mikawa-san. I wouldn't feel comfortable saying I was jouzu at anything. I'd also use 得意 sometimes and できる mostly. And I'd probably downplay my ability further by saying something like まあまあできる or 少しできる even if I was pretty good at it.
And... as I suspected Lily has covered this. So it's confirmed. You should not use jouzu for yourself.

 

[Buntaro]

I want to say in Japanese, "hang out with my friends," but all I get from Google Translate is 友達と遊ぶ , which is not even close.

I remember many years ago hearing a phrase that meant, "gathering around the fire hydrant and having a meeting. (Something like 消火栓に集まて会議をする. I think the phrase I heard years ago contained the word ばたけ or something like that.) Does anyone recognize this saying?

What's the best way to say, "hang out with my friends"?

 

[Buntaro]

Master_o_puppets,

Yes, we often hear people say something like, "Kono sake wa umai" meaning it is delicious. But I think the meaning here is that the sake was skillfully (brewed), meaning it is delicious.

 

[mdchachi]

I want to say in Japanese, "hang out with my friends," but all I get from Google Translate is 友達と遊ぶ , which is not even close.

I remember many years ago hearing a phrase that meant, "gathering around the fire hydrant and having a meeting. (Something like 消火栓に集まて会議をする. I think the phrase I heard years ago contained the word ばたけ or something like that.) Does anyone recognize this saying?

What's the best way to say, "hang out with my friends"?

I think 友達と遊ぶ is the best, most typical way. It's just one of those cases where you're not going to get a direct translation. I suppose if you really want to capture the aimlessness of just getting together with no activity in mind you could say 友達とふらふらする.

 

[Toritoribe]

It's ぶらぶら. ふらふらする means "to dizzy".

You can also use a slangy expression つるむ.

I remember many years ago hearing a phrase that meant, "gathering around the fire hydrant and having a meeting. (Something like 消火栓に集まて会議をする. I think the phrase I heard years ago contained the word ばたけ or something like that.) Does anyone recognize this saying?

It's not 消火栓 fire hydrant but 井戸 well. 井戸端会議 Idobatakaigi is the word you are talking about, which means "chatting around a communal well". It's more likely "water-cooler conversation". はた/ばた means "side". It's not from はたけ/ばたけ "field/firm".

we often hear people say something like, "Kono sake wa umai" meaning it is delicious. But I think the meaning here is that the sake was skillfully (brewed), meaning it is delicious.

The original meaning of umai is "delicious". "Skillful/Good at~" is derived from it.

旨い／甘い／美味い／上手い／巧い／うまい - 語源由来辞典

うまいの意味、語源、由来を解説。味が良いこと。技量の優れたさまや好ましい状況も表す。語源は「熟む」からで、甘美な果実の味を指す。

gogen-yurai.jp

 

[Buntaro]

Toritoribe,

Thanks for setting me straight on うまい. I was not aware it originally meant delicious.

I'm glad you were able to recognize my semi-forgotten phrase as 井戸端会議。Yes, that is what I meant.

I am fascinated by your term つるむ。The term "hang out" is also slangy. If the chancellor of Germany visited France, met with the president of France, and they had a news conference, they certainly would not announce they would be 'hanging out together' after the news conference (because 'hanging out together' is too slangy). So the term つるむ might be just what I was looking for.

Is it easily understandable for a Japanese teenager, when inviting their friend to come over and hang out on Saturday, to say something like, 「土曜日私の家に来てね。つるみましょう。」?

 

[Toritoribe]

つるむ is mostly for a habitual action. It's hard to use for a one off action.
e.g.
あの頃よく仲間とつるんでツーリングに行った。

つるむ is quite casual, so a polite expression つるみましょう sounds awkward. Also, it tends to have a negative connotation, meaning "to cooperate with someone to do bad things".
e.g.
あいつら裏でつるんでやがった。
Thus, even a casual form つるもう is not used. Instead, 手を組もう is used for this case.


I would say 土曜日一緒に遊ばない？ for your example, as mdchachi-san already suggested in his post.

 

[Buntaro]

I want to thank Toritoribe and mdchachi for suggesting I translate 'hang out' into Japanese as 遊ぶ . But I would add these ideas:

Children play.
Teenagers do not play, they hang out.
Adults do not play, they hang out.

When I was teaching English in Japan, it was common for my adult students to say, "I play on the weekend." But I think that by simply telling them, "Adults do not play, they hang out" would have solved the problem.

(I would also add, "I like to go out and have some fun," and "I like to go out and do things for fun,"as alternatives.)

 

[Majestic]

As the guys said above, 遊ぶ is absolutely the right word. The problem is you are re-translating back into English in your mind, and in doing so you attach some unnecessary connotations and nuances that the word "play" has in English, which aren't present in the Japanese word 遊ぶ.

You need to leave that baggage behind, because it is obstructing your learning. When you assume "play" is a word only for children, you are assuming something that isn't true in Japanese. And rather than reducing that burden and recognizing that 遊ぶ is a perfectly serviceable word for your needs, you are digging in your heels and insisting it doesn't work, when its the precisely the right word for the situation.

It's as if a Japanese person insisted that "hang out" is the wrong word, because nobody is actually doing any hanging, and no one is being hanged. But then when that Japanese person learns that "hang out" is the term that is known and accepted by many/most English speakers, that person's world expands a little bit. But if that Japanese person continues to be stubborn, his world would forever be diminished.

So its super important to be open to the idea that the one-for-one translation in your mind might need some adjustment when the usage of that word is something different from what you expected.

No Japanese person thinks 遊ぶ is anything exclusively for children or toddlers.

 

[mdchachi]

I want to thank Toritoribe and mdchachi for suggesting I translate 'hang out' into Japanese as 遊ぶ . But I would add these ideas:

Children play.
Teenagers do not play, they hang out.
Adults do not play, they hang out.

When I was teaching English in Japan, it was common for my adult students to say, "I play on the weekend." But I think that by simply telling them, "Adults do not play, they hang out" would have solved the problem.

(I would also add, "I like to go out and have some fun," and "I like to go out and do things for fun,"as alternatives.)

You're imposing English sensibilities onto a Japanese word though. Just like in English, some words have a variety of meanings. "Play" and "Asobu" are not the same. According to jisho.org, asobu has a much wider variety of meanings than play.

1. to play (games, sports); to enjoy oneself; to have a good time
There were two children playing on the street.
2. to mess about (with alcohol, gambling, philandery, etc.)
3. to be idle; to do nothing; to be unused
The machine is lying idle.
4. to meet up (with friends); to hang out
5. to give oneself up (to gambling, drinking, etc.)
6. to go to (for pleasure or for study)as 〜に遊ぶ
7. to tease (someone); to play (with)See also もてあそぶ
8. to intentionally throw a ball to lower the batter's concentration

So of course you should teach your students the difference but you shouldn't insist that their Japanese is incorrect. When you think about it "hang out" is just weird. It makes less sense than asobu.

 

[Toritoribe]

I want to thank Toritoribe and mdchachi for suggesting I translate 'hang out' into Japanese as 遊ぶ . But I would add these ideas:

Children play.
Teenagers do not play, they hang out.
Adults do not play, they hang out.

When I was teaching English in Japan, it was common for my adult students to say, "I play on the weekend." But I think that by simply telling them, "Adults do not play, they hang out" would have solved the problem.

(I would also add, "I like to go out and have some fun," and "I like to go out and do things for fun,"as alternatives.)

If you want to emphasize "to go out", you can use 遊びに行く.

今度の土曜日遊びに行かない？

Or more simply, you can also say;

今度の土曜日どっか行かない？
(どっか is a very colloquial form of どこか)

I think this is the most natural way for your example case.

Needless to say, this doesn't mean that どっか行く always can be translated as "to hang out". For example, it can mean "to lose" in 財布がどっか行っちゃった. As already pointed out repeatedly, there often isn't one-to-one corresponding between the words in different languages. It's often useless to look for "the only exact word/idiom" in Japanese for an English word/idiom. Your students can learn that "to hang out" can be used for どっか行く in this example, can learn other usages of "to hang out" in other examples, and then, they would gradually grasp the meaning of the idiom. Of course your explanation "to go out and do things for fun" would be very useful for them. I think it's the best way for learners to know the concept of the word/idiom, and learn the various usages of it.

 

[Buntaro]

I'm wondering about translating the word crazy into Japanese. When I was in Japan, the word キチガイwas the word of choice, but I see Google Translate simply translates it as クレイジー. Which is more common nowadays in conversational Japanese?

 

[Majestic]

きちがい（気違い）is considered rude/derogatory, and it isn't used in polite conversation, or on radio or TV broadcasts. It used to be used by comedians, but even they avoid it now. TV stations as well as newspapers will issue apologies if anyone uses it on-air or in print.

So, best to avoid it unless/until you can sort out this sensitive landscape.

Depending on the situation, クレイジー might be OK, or おかしい or some other words might be OK.

 

[zeroh4nter]

What does 見ている先 mean here exactly?
Hope someone could explain what this mean in English o/ (i can only guess something like :"My viewpoint with those 3 people are different " but not sure since i'm not native)

Story: Protagonist v is talking with his 詩乃 strategist , after their clan Oda took over Inabayama Castle, in Mino country. His strategist and her old comrades "The Trio of Mino" used to serves 龍興 -old ruler of Mino in the past.

詩乃「西美濃三人衆は……どうなりました？」
剣丞「今は久遠に下って、龍興派の説得に回ってるはずだけど」
詩乃「そうですか……」
剣丞「やっぱり気になる？」
もともとは一緒に稲葉山城を占領した仲間なわけだし。
詩乃「いえ、別に」
詩乃「私は……こんな性格ですから」
こんな性格、ねぇ。
詩乃「あの三人とも、龍興を何とかしたいと思う気持ちは同じでしたが……それほど仲が良いわけでもありませんでしたし」
詩乃「それに、見ている先も違っていました」

 

[Majestic]

I think it means their "target" or their goal was different from that of 龍興.
龍興 aspired to achieving one outcome, but the other three guys were looking towards something else.

 

[Toritoribe]

I think she is talking about the difference between the three samurais and herself. She and they had a similar feeling about the treatment of Tatsuoki, but she was not so close with them, plus...

My target (or goal, aim, purpose or like that) was different from those three men's.

 

[zeroh4nter]

しっかり見とけ I have a hard time not sure how to understand this expression correctly , hope someone could correct if mine was wrong.My understanding : "Open your eyes wide and observe how we do/fight !"
Context: A teammate of protagonist said this to him, while they're hanging out and relax after a battle. She believes that in the futre there will be more hard battles to come, but as long as they stick together, they can take on anything. Then she said this :
「次の戦も活躍してやるからな、しっかり見とけよ！」

 

[Toritoribe]

Yes, you got it right.

 

[zeroh4nter]

What does this 甘くない？ mean here ?A character is talking about bishojo game production in Japan, with her team during meeting. If someone know please tell me what did this mean exactly here ?
「……ていうかさぁ、このシーンの演出はどうなのぉ？ちょっと甘くない？あたしだったらこんなやり方にはしないけどねぇ？」

 

[mdchachi]

What does this 甘くない？ mean here ?A character is talking about bishojo game production in Japan, with her team during meeting. If someone know please tell me what did this mean exactly here ?
「……ていうかさぁ、このシーンの演出はどうなのぉ？ちょっと甘くない？あたしだったらこんなやり方にはしないけどねぇ？」

I would think "6. insufficient; not satisfactory; inadequate; loose" is the appropriate meaning here.

amai - Jisho.org

jisho.org

 

[Ukigumo]

I saw a Japanese phrase translated on NHK-World as 'by all means' and I think I heard 'zen in de' (全員で). Is this correct and can it be used in the same, polite way as the English phrase?

 

[mdchachi]

I saw a Japanese phrase translated on NHK-World as 'by all means' and I think I heard 'zen in de' (全員で). Is this correct and can it be used in the same, polite way as the English phrase?

I don't think this would normally be translated to "by all means."

 

[Majestic]

Probably "zehi" 是非, which is typically translated as "by all means"