他のスレッドで見つけた英語表現について質問するスレ ッド

[srintuar]

My friend Megumi is never punctual. She always shows up more than one hour late and that really pisses me off. Huffing and puffing, I complain and threaten not to hang around with her any more then she tries to feed me all sorts of lame excuses like....................

Yes, it is used correctly there, however: It is strange to describe oneself as "huffing and puffing" because it is a deprecatory phrase. Someone who is overreacting to something they should probably be more calm and reasonable about, or someone who is making threats that they do not have the ability to carry out will "Huff and Puff". (Also, the person is usually one in a real or imagined position of authority.) It has a nuance of "unreasonable" / "overbearing" to it.

My friend Megumi is never punctual. She always shows up more than one hour late, and if I ever try to complain, she gets really mad and, huffing and puffing and tries to justify herself by telling all sorts of nonsense like "You have been late before," "We shouldn't set the wait time such an early in the morning," "You are too cold not understanding how a person with a headache feels," and blah blah blah.
I hope this time I used "huff and puff" more properly.

In this case, she is attempting to justify herself but she is not making any threats, so I do not think that is a case where I would expect this idiom to be used. If she was making threats, I could imagine it, but the sentences you gave her seem more defensive in nature.

 

[nice gaijin]

In the second version, the words or the same but to me the interpretation changes from the idiom to simply "out of breath." If using the idiom was the goal, it's not working to that degree, but to me it sounds less "forced" than its use in the first paragraph.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

Originally Posted by srintuar
It is strange to describe oneself as "huffing and puffing" because it is a deprecatory phrase.

huff and puff を「怒って文句を言う」の意味で使う場合には普通は自分自身には使わないんですね。理由は、huff and puff をしている人に対して、「ちょっとぎゃあぎゃあ怒りすぎじゃないのか」という非難めいたニュアンスがあるからですね。
そして、自分以外の人に対して使う場合も、いいわけじみたことやぶつぶつ不平を言うくらいの程度ではなくて、相手を責めたてるような勢いで文句を言っている人に使うのがいいんですね。srintuarさん、どうもありがとうございました！

Originally Posteb by nice gaijin
In the second version, the words or the same but to me the interpretation changes from the idiom to simply "out of breath." If using the idiom was the goal, it's not working to that degree, but to me it sounds less "forced" than its use in the first paragraph.

Phew! it took me a couple days to figure out what nice gaijin-san's post means. "to that degree" が何のことを指しているのか、とかいろいろあれこれ考えていたら２日もたってしまいました～！
（わからなかった理由は、「息を切らしている」も「怒って文句を言う」も両方ともイディオムと呼ばれるものなんだってかたく思い込んでいたからです。 「息を切らしている」のほうはイディオムではなくて単なる描写なんですね。これがわかった時点で頭の中がスッキリ！整理できたんです。）←遅すぎるっちゅうの！（笑）

I hope my understanding is alright but in case it's not, I'm writing my translation here. It's:

２つ目の方では、使われている文字は同じでも、意味合いが「怒って文句を言う」よりもむしろ単に「息を切らせている」の方に感じられる。もしも、このイディオム（「怒って文句を言う」の意味のほう）を使うということ自体が目標ならば、イマイチその目標には達していないが、２つ目のほうが１つ目の作文よりもこじつけっぽくないように、僕には感じられる。
Please correct me if it's wrong.

By the way, when you come across this expression , you can find if it's idiom or not by the context, desune?

 

[Kyoko_desu]

thread title
bad pun

Don't you think it's hard to understand a pun in foreign langauge? Although in Post #5 I said I couldn't get any, just now I found myself getting (1), (4), and (10) of den4-san's post (Post #1). Why I can get (10) now is that I have seen this phrase "no pun intended" here and there on the forum after my post saying I could not get any pun there. (Hehe, this can kind of prove I've been learning alot by reading people's posts here!)
However, English puns are still sooo difficult for me.
I've just picked up a short one with easy words from Post #2, hoping anyone would kindly explain it. (I know jokes and puns turn lame when explained though)

OK, this is the pun which needs to be explained.
Two birds sat on a perch One says "Can you smell fish?"

I checked every single word trying to find which one has more than 2 definitions but still couldn't get it...

どうぞよろしくお願いします！

 

[nice gaijin]

perch could mean a place where birds land (either in a cage or on a tree; it can also be used as a verb: to perch on a tree limb). Perch is also a kind of fish. So the birds are perching on a perch. There's the double-meaning.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

awww, yeees, it does have a double-meaning of 止まり木 and スズキ (a kind of fish). I just missed the second definition because it was written far down the bottom, gomennasa-i!

So, if you wanted to create a pun yourself, you should use words with double meanings or words or phrases which have almost the same pronunciation such as "no pun intended" and "no pun in ten did", desune!

 

[nice gaijin]

By all means, homonyms are the most common source of puns. I've made several puns in Japanese that I thought were clever at the time, but mostly they receive a lukewarm reception, whereas horribly bad English puns has my Japanese friends applauding. Perhaps it's the novelty of it, since most native speakers seem to be quite tired of puns in their own language, myself included.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

The other day, I found a small and cute trick/surprise here by accidentally placing my mouse-pointer over the green reputation meter thingy you can see below the post counts on the left. Maybe it's only me who didn't know it but if you didn't either, put your mouse-pointer over anyone's reputation meter.

Mine says "Kyoko_desu is a splendid one to behold".
Others are like:
**** is our spiritual leader to all
**** is a glorious beacon of light
**** is a much appreciated memeber
**** is just really nice
and all the nice things to introduce people

I really like it and feel it's a good little trinket our admin did for us even though the status is most likely just randomly picked or automatically changes depending on the post count or the reputation count.

Anyway, my question for today is about nice gaijin_san and Hiroyuki Nagashima-san's status, which says:
nice gaijn has a reputation beyond repute.

I wondered what the difference between "reputation" and "repute" is and checked several dictionaries.
One said:
reputation
【名】 評判｛ひょうばん｝、うわさ、名声｛めいせい｝、世評｛せひょう｝、好評｛こうひょう｝、世間体｛せけんてい｝
repute
【名-1】 世評｛せひょう｝、評判｛ひょうばん｝、うわさ
【名-2】 名声｛めいせい｝、信望｛しんぼう｝、好評｛こうひょう｝
・ He is an investor of some repute. 彼は著名な投資家だ。
【他動】 ～と考える［見なす］、～を評する

This only shows that "repute" can be used not only as a noun but as a verb when "reputation" can only be a noun.

The other one said:
reputation [countable]
the opinion that people have about someone or something because of what has happened in the past
repute [uncountable] formal
reputation

So now I know one is a countable noun and the other one is undountable and repute is probably more formal than reputation.

The last one said:
reputation
1 a : overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general
b : recognition by other people of some characteristic or ability
<has the reputation of being clever>
2 : a place in public esteem or regard : good name
<trying to protect his reputation>
repute
1 : the character or status commonly ascribed to one : REPUTATION
2 : the state of being favorably known, spoken of, or esteemed

I still can't figure out the difference... Could anyone explain the difference of the meanings of "reputation" and "repute"?
What is 「repute を超えるreputation」? Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

Originally Posted by nice gaijin
most native speakers seem to be quite tired of puns in their own language, myself included.

Ahaha! yeah, Japanese puns are usually called だじゃれ but sometimes called おやじギャグ. When you make too many puns all the time, people just sigh and say 「おやじギャグはほどほどにして。。。」

 

[srintuar]

I still can't figure out the difference... Could anyone explain the difference between the meanings of "reputation" and "repute"?
What is 「repute を超えるreputation」? Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

Don't worry about that so much. "Repute" is almost only ever used in the phrases "beyond repute" and "reputedly ... ".


Outside of those uses, it's a fairly uncommon word, so I wouldn't spend a disproportionate amount of time on it.

OTOH, "Reputation" is a common word.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

OK, srintuar-san, then I just memorize this phrase "reputation beyond repute" and its meanings.
Thank you very much!

Oh, but what does OTOH stand for?

 

[GodEmperorLeto]

Oh, but what does OTOH stand for?

"On the other hand".

It is a common English idiom. It brings up imagery of having two possible, but different items, one in each hand, or two possible, but different options that exist on your left or right.

It is basically a way of introducing a different (sometimes opposite or contradicting) possibility, situation, or viewpoint.

Example: "I could use $25,000 to buy a new car. On the other hand, I could buy a $5,000 used car and save the rest of the money."

 

[Kyoko_desu]

Originally Posted by GodEmperorLeto
"On the other hand".

Oh, "on the other hand" desuka! Thank you so much, GodEmperorLeto-san. Is this abbreviation often used in daily life? I mean, not only on internet but also when writing letters or school reports, etc.?

And are there any commonly used abbreviations that native English speaking people generally know?
I know this one. BTW = by the way

 

[nice gaijin]

AFAIK, it is used almost exclusively on the web, such as "AFAIK" (As Far As I Know). Such abbreviations in formal writing situations are considered incorrect, but it is likely they can be used for note-passing between friends.

A search for "web abbreviations" brought this link up. Of all those, only a handful are really commonly used.

 

[GodEmperorLeto]

Nice_Gaijin's right, it's almost exclusively used when typing on the Internet. However, certain abbreviations, like "LOL" have worked their ways into common American parlance (pronounced "lol" just like it looks).

 

[Kyoko_desu]

OMG! TDM! TNXE6, nice gaijin-san! (Oh my God, too darn many! Thanks a million (I wonder why "E6" can be "a milliion" though) , nice gaijin-san!) The link is so interesting and I've bookmarked it so that when I find an abbreviation I don't know I can always check it.

I just remembered the day I peeped an English chatroom for the first time.
I was like what's the hell is ASL? LOL? and WB? Is this really a ENGLISH chat room????

By the way, none of them can be used in formal writings and only between friends or on internet is OK? Oh, maybe "FAQ" is OK, kana?

Anyway, I assume that using too much of those abbreviations makes you look like an internet otaku, cuz abusing Japanese ones do make you look like one.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

Originally Posted by GodEmperorLeto
pronounced "lol" just like it looks

Oh I almost missed your post, GodEmperorLeto-san. You just brushed away the cobwebs I've had for a long time because I have always been wondering how to pronounce "lol".
Arigatou gozaimashita.

 

[nice gaijin]

FAQ is a very common acronym, and I have seen it in writing many times in manuals and the like. There are few abbreviations that leak into common use. "lol" (sounds like "ball" when spoken) is one of the exceptions that have come directly from the internet, but it's pretty dorky to use.

Other than OMG, I haven't seen those acronyms used before. E6 is shorthand for scientific notation (x10^6, or something times 10 to the 6th power). so E6 equals 1,000,000.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

Doumo arigatou gozaimashita, nice gaijin-san!

Originally Posted by nice gaijin
it's pretty dorky to use

Aww, >.< then I don't wannt use it. I usually want to use new expressions and words as soon and much as I can though.

E6 equals 1,000,000.

Wow, I would never guess it by myself. This reminds me of the Japanese slang ラブｘ２ or らぶx2. These are pronounced "rabu rabu" and means someone is in love.

 

[nice gaijin]

I'm familiar with らぶらぶ, but didn't know people used らぶｘ２ (it seems kind of odd, since it's the same number of characters!)

However, scientific notation is not slang; it is used in math problems that deal with very large number or very small decimals. It's actually pretty rare to see it used in any slang application.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

Originally Posted by nice gaijin
I'm familiar with らぶらぶ, but didn't know people used らぶｘ２
(it seems kind of odd, since it's the same number of characters!)

nice gaijinさん、いつもお世話になってます～。 （ぺこり）
「らぶｘ２」はギャル文字なんです。
ギャル文字っていうのは、多分もうご存知だと思うんだけど、主に中学生・高校生くらいの10代の女の子達がケータイやインターネット上で使う文字です。 ちょっと10代の女の子が集まる掲示板サイトからギャル文字の書き込みをひろってきたので見てくださいね。

（１）
ﾈ刀めмаＵτ→→→！
⊇ﾚ￡〃★σﾚ)ｯτﾚヽﾚヽма￡★
ちょｯ`⊂ヱｯ千ﾅょ女σ孑τ〃→→→→￡！
≠〃ｬ儿語ﾚ￡書ﾚﾅゑﾚﾅ`⊂〃∋めма世→→→→ω！
⊇яёヵゝらм○∋ЗＵ＜ぉ願ﾚヽＵма→→→→￡

（２）
ゎ→ ≠"ｬ儿もＵ″ｶゞﾚヽｯﾚ￡oﾚヽτ〃ｶヽヮﾚヽﾚヽﾅょ☆
маﾚ)ｶヽも元頁弓長ゐЙё～

私なりに普通の日本語に翻訳してみました。（わかるところだけ＆まちがっているところがあるかも）
（１）
初めましてーーー！
こず？？？★？？？っていいます★（この行、ぜんぜんわかりません）
ちょっとエッチな女の子でーーーーす！
ギャル語は書けるけど読めませーーーん！
これからもよろしくお願いしまーーーす

（２）
わー ギャルもじがいっぱいでかわいいな☆
まりか（多分これを書いた人の名前）も頑張るねー

となって、例えば、

「な」→「ﾅょ」 （ﾅ）＆（ょ）

といったように、ふつうよりも、文字を打ち込む手間がかかることが多いのがギャル文字なんです。 つまり、ギャル文字を使う目的は、キーボードの打ち込みの手間をはぶくことじゃなくて、

＃１ 大人に見られても読めないようにする
＃２ 隠語的な文字使いをすることによって、読み手との仲間意識を深める
＃３ 視覚的にかわいらしくする

などが考えられるんです。
（そういった点では、英語のLeet Speak とか、Studly Caps と似ている気がするんですけど、間違っていたらごめんなさい。）

だから「らぶらぶ」も「らぶｘ２」も文字の数は同じなんだけど、文字数は彼女達にとっては問題じゃないんです。

Personally, I don't like gyaru-moji. I cringe especially when I see a housewife on her 30's or older using gyaru-moji, trying to look young or something.

 

[nice gaijin]

ロル！そうですね。何でか分からないんだが、なんてギャル文字のことをもう知っています。形態で使われるか知っていたけど、掲示板にも使われるのが面白いですね。僕にはほとんど読めないけどな！詳しく説明してくれてありがとう、ちょっと勉強になりました。

 

[Kyoko_desu]

えへへ、いつも教えてもらっているから、今日は恩返し です～。

 

[Kyoko_desu]

thread title
Maybe a banned user thread?

Post#22
you could characterize my web viewing habits as being "Mormon"

We are familiar with the Mormons here, because they kind of stand out, riding a bike in a white shirt, talking to the people on the street like "Anata wa Kami wo shinjimasu ka?"

However, I do not know much about them. All I know about them is that many of them live in the State of Utah and young believers are sent to foreign countries as a missionary. (They are not the ones who refuse a blood transfusion, are they?)

What does a Mormon have to do with being unfaithful or with Mikawa Ossan's web viewing habits such as visiting more than one forum? To me, associating religion with unfaithfulness is weird, so please teach me what did he really mean by that sentence?

よろしくお願いします。

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

hahahaha! I'd forgotten about that one!

One of the stereotypes about Mormons is that men have moer than one wife. (The truth is, as far as I know, that such behavior is very rare today, but the stereotype still remains.) I was referring to that stereotype, and implying that I have many "wives". In other words, I visit many websites, and (more recently) many forums.

Sorry to confuse you!