頭　－　あたま or かしら

McCrutch67 · 27 Jun 2005

When you see 頭, is it あたま or かしら? I've known both for a while but I've always been confused about the usage. Why are there two and when are they used?

Glenn · 27 Jun 2005

It depends on context. When read as あたま it means "head" (as in part of the body), and when read かしら it means "boss." It's similar to 方 being read as either かた or ほう. I think it just takes experience to know when to read it which way, but then again there are times that I read "read" the wrong way when initially going through a sentence, and then have to go back when the way I read it doesn't make sense. You know what I mean?

McCrutch67 · 28 Jun 2005

ありがとう
I checked jim breen's site and didn't get any distinction but I just now remembered goo and they had it. Next time I'll have to remember that.

私の頭を使いませんでしたね

Elizabeth · 28 Jun 2005

McCrutch67 said:
ありがとう
I checked jim breen's site and didn't get any distinction but I just now remembered goo and they had it. Next time I'll have to remember that.

私の頭を使いませんでしたね

"Kashira" in relation to an office boss would be widely considered a joke I think -- most references seem to be to the yakuza or a physical laborer, like a foreman or overseer.

McCrutch67 · 28 Jun 2005

The first thing I thought was "interesting" and that reminded me of another question I've wondered about. I know omoshiroi isn't the best translation of interesting and really omoshiroi is like "sounds like fun" or something like that. So how do you say something is interesting in the way that you want to find out more or it makes you think more than the way omoshiroi sounds? I always find myself wanting to say(well, think) omoshiroi and have to stop and think that won't sound right.

Elizabeth · 28 Jun 2005

McCrutch67 said:
The first thing I thought was "interesting" and that reminded me of another question I've wondered about. I know omoshiroi isn't the best translation of interesting and really omoshiroi is like "sounds like fun" or something like that. So how do you say something is interesting in the way that you want to find out more or it makes you think more than the way omoshiroi sounds? I always find myself wanting to say(well, think) omoshiroi and have to stop and think that won't sound right.

Do you have an example in mind ? Most of the time it is the same -- the only thing that changes is the speakers intonation or modifying words (totemo omoishiroi to omoimasu, omoishiroina etc). I mean for really serious things like books or films or something you can say kyoumibukai (or hontou ni kyoumi ga aru etc) but omoshiroi is by far the most common and horribly overextended. ☝

McCrutch67 · 28 Jun 2005

I found the reference that gave me the idea.
omoshiroi

fun, funny, comical, entertaining, amusing, interesting, humorous, hilarious, diverting, laughable, droll, ridiculous, witty...

Lots of dictionaries give very approximate translations. For example, "omoshiroi" is often translated as "interesting", which is I think a very misleading translation. I often hear Japanese people saying that they went to Disneyland or sing karaoke and that it was "interesting" when they really mean funny, amusing or entertaining. "omoshiroi" cannot be used for the most common meaning of "interesting", e.g. saying that a book is interesting, even if it's a book on the holocaust which is not funny at all.

EDIT: turns out Maciamo wrote it and it's on jref too

Elizabeth · 28 Jun 2005

McCrutch67 said:
I found the reference that gave me the idea.

omoshiroi

fun, funny, comical, entertaining, amusing, interesting, humorous, hilarious, diverting, laughable, droll, ridiculous, witty...

Lots of dictionaries give very approximate translations. For example, "omoshiroi" is often translated as "interesting", which is I think a very misleading translation. I often hear Japanese people saying that they went to Disneyland or sing karaoke and that it was "interesting" when they really mean funny, amusing or entertaining. "omoshiroi" cannot be used for the most common meaning of "interesting", e.g. saying that a book is interesting, even if it's a book on the holocaust which is not funny at all.

EDIT: turns out Maciamo wrote it and it's on jref too

No, it's used for serious situations as well. The best example recently was the Chinese anti Japanese demonstrations a friend described as "totemo omoshiroi." It's used very widely. Maciamo probably had something against the lack of specificity or lack of vocabulary or something -- but there really isn't anything else that comes close.

Damicci · 1 Jul 2005

Just thought of an example of when you read it as:ﾂ窶堋ｩ窶堋ｵ窶堙ｧ
窶慊ｪ窶｢ﾂｶﾅｽﾅ｡D
窶堋ｩ窶堋ｵ窶堙ｧ窶堙?窶堋ｶD
Initial D
Here it basically means Initial letter or First letter.

pipokun · 1 Jul 2005

Damicci, you're right.
Other popular kashira would be "okashira tsuki no tai (sea bream)".

McCrutch67, he is just acting his roll here.

Elizabeth · 1 Jul 2005

Damicci said:
Just thought of an example of when you read it as: かしら
頭文字D
かしらもじD
Initial D
Here it basically means Initial letter or First letter.

This wouldn't be an association from イニシャルＤ the anime would it ?

豆腐屋の自動車レースのアニメですが大好きですよね。。。。

Damicci · 2 Jul 2005

はい、けど豆腐屋の息子の自動車レースのアニメだぜ。（笑）
私もそれアニメが大好きですよ。嘘１８０ｓｘ「アメリカの２４０ｓｘ」をドライブして。
ドリフトが楽しいな事をするのができます。

Elizabeth · 2 Jul 2005

Damicci said:
はい、けど豆腐屋の息子の自動車レースのアニメだぜ。（笑）
私もそれアニメが大好きですよ。嘘１８０ｓｘ「アメリカの２４０ｓｘ」をドライブして。
ドリフトが楽しいな事をするのができます。

もそれアニメ

By the way, sore and sono are different classes of pronouns so it should be "Sono anime" -- never enter "sore" directly before a noun.

And 楽しい isn't a "na" adjective.

嘘 (lie) wa nan no koto deshouka?

Damicci · 2 Jul 2005

Ｂａｈ
私の頭がしかりして。
嘘は違うです。偽は言葉を使いたかった。
「そのやこの」と「それやこれ」は何時も違うを忘れます。

頭　－　あたま or かしら

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