つーーーん

when eating sushi recently with a friend of mine, she ate too much wasabi and said "つーーーん"

which is basically a vocalised way of describing how the wasabi makes your nose feel. this got me thinking...

today, one of the teachers had brainfreeze (he ate ice cream too fast). I asked him how to explain brainfreeze in Japanese. i think he said きーーーーん or ぎーーーーん in a similar way that wasabi makes you feel. is this right? or did i miss hear?

also, are there anymore of this vocalisations at all...?

yorkii

yorkii said:

when eating sushi recently with a friend of mine, she ate too much wasabi and said "つーーーん"
which is basically a vocalised way of describing how the wasabi makes your nose feel. this got me thinking...
today, one of the teachers had brainfreeze (he ate ice cream too fast). I asked him how to explain brainfeeze in Japanese. i think he said きーーーーん or ぎーーーーん in a simialr way that wasabi makes you feel. is this right? or did i miss hear?
also, are there anymore of this vocalisations at all...?
yorkii

Click to expand...

「つーん」 is the feeling you've got through your nose into the head.
Not only with wasabi (with which I sometimes end up with watery eyes) but also when I smell something pungent I describe it 「つーん」. Strong vinegar, for instance.

「きーん」 is something you feel in the head or ears.
It is also used to describe the ringing in the ears, or very high pitched noise.
When you eat something very cold, you have the similar feeling in the head.

「じーん」 When you did seiza for a long time, then your legs becomes numb, sort of paralyzed. Or when in the cold winter mornng, you just got out of bed and hit the tip of your toe against the furniture, which is quite painful, and it ringer for a while - those feelings can be expressed with 「じーん」.
When you are very much moved (emotionally), to the point that tears are welling in your eyes, such deep emotion is also expressed with 「じーん」.

「しーん」 is to express the total quietness. You might hear a pin drop.

「がーん」 it is a sound when something heavy hit against someting.
It also used to express one's shock, "as if to have one's head hit by a big stone, etc."
I register this kaomoji (Japanese smily) with this word (がーん） （￣□￣；）

perfect. that is exactly what i was looking for. BRILLIANT!

thanks a lot