三本の指に入る / 兄弟 / 研究で / 幻影に変えてゆく

[eeky]

Hi,


1. 短大を卒業したあと、会計士事務所に勤めたのだが、い まはそこを辞め、大阪では三本の指に入るというスタイ リストの助手をしている。

My translation: "After graduating from junior college, (she) worked for an accountancy firm, but now she's resigned from there and is working in Osaka as an assistant to a ??? stylist."

What does 三本の指に入る mean?


2. Can Xの兄弟 mean "X's sons and daughters", or does it always mean "X's brothers and sisters"?


3. これから、研究でお世話になる教授に自己紹介します。

I understand this is something about introducing oneself to a professor to whom one is grateful/obliged/etc., but I don't understand 研究で, and, specifically, the sense in which で is used. In all the interpretations I can think of, the speaker would already know the professor and would not at this juncture be introducing him/herself.


4. ほのかな光が俺のねじれた視界を幻影に変えてゆく。

What does 幻影に変えてゆく mean?


5. それって死語じゃないの。

Translation given: "People don't say that anymore."

a) I'm assuming this literally means "That's an obsolete word/expression, isn't it", where じゃないの is a semi-rhetorical question "isn't it?". Is that correct?

b) Is it also possible, with different intonation, for this to mean "That isn't an obsolete word/expression"?

Once again, I apologise if I seem to keep asking the same questions about じゃない over and over. I am trying to study previous answers and make notes about the rules, but I easily get confused.

 

[Toritoribe]

1)
one of the three best stylists in Osaka

2)
The latter.

3)
the professor I get help with the research from

4)
change (my view) into illusion

5) a)
If it's said in the rising intonation, yes. If it's the falling one, that's assertion as same as ﾅｽ竄ｬﾅ津ｪ窶堋ｾ窶堙ｦ.

b)
No. If that's 窶堋ｻ窶堙ｪ窶堙? it's possible.
Usually, the context will make the interpretation easier.

 

[eeky]

Thanks Toritoribe.

1. I understand that 三本の指に入る is presumably an idiom. Can you shed any light on how it came to mean what it does?

2. I discounted this interpretation because I don't see how someone who is already getting help from the professor would be introducing themselves to the professor. Wouldn't they already know each other? It may be that I am making this more complicated that it really is, but I just feel that I am misunderstanding something...

5. In the thread at お礼の申し上げよう / いつまでも / ではないか / できん / じゃん you said that "ではない is always actual negation". Is this case different because it's じゃない and not ではない? Or is it different because of の on the end? Or something else? [Edited: Sorry, the link does not work and I don't know how to fix it. I have had this problem before. I think it is a bug in the forums.]

Also, let me just check I am understanding you correctly that それは死語じゃないの can mean it isn't obsolete, yet それって死語じゃないの cannot mean this?

 

[Mike Cash]

1. List off the top items and illustrate by counting along on your fingers. The idiom is based on that.

3. You missed the tense of 世話になる

 

[eeky]

3. You missed the tense of 世話になる

Aha, yes, I think I did. Thank you!

 

[Toritoribe]

1)
As Mike-san explained, 三本の指に入る means "being in the first three fingers when couting off on one's fingers", i.e., "one of the best/top three". FYI, で can indicate both the location and the field.
e.g.
世界で五本の指に入る選手
one of the top five players in the world

売上高で十指[じゅっし]に入る企業
one of the top ten companies by sales volume

5)
Yes, じゃない can be a negative question "Isn't it~?". Plus, both の and って are also the key in this case.

Also, let me just check I am understanding you correctly that それは死語じゃないの can mean it isn't obsolete, yet それって死語じゃないの cannot mean this?

Exactly.


You can link the thread by changing the URL like this; forum/learning-japanese-64/お礼の申し上げよう-いつまでも-ではないか-できん-じゃん-49324/(use Japanese thread title, then put a hyphen instead of a space and/or slash between the words).

お礼の申し上げよう / いつまでも / ではないか / できん / じゃん | Japan Forum

 

[eeky]

Exactly.

Groan ... I just despair of ever understanding this stuff. I can't believe that in all the books I have read I have never seen any explanation or discussion of this minefield. Anyway, thanks for your continuing help.