This is a mobile optimized page that loads fast, if you want to load the real page, click this text.

Japanese studies & reading comprehension

I'm having trouble with understanding the following exchange.

Context: mother talks to son about dinner.

夕飯何がいい？
- 何でもいいよ
何でもいいのね じゃあ。。。
ウナギと牡蠣にすっぽん レバーあと。。。
- (son's thoughts) あぁ今月の食費が。。。
- なんて冗談よ。。。

So far I've got:

What do you want for dinner?
- Anything's fine.
Anything, you say? Well then...
(most confusing part, something about eels, oysters and turtles. I have no idea what レバーあと means)
- This month's food expenses... (don't really get what the omitted ending should be)
- What's with that joke... (I don't get the joke )

Any help is appreciated.
 
Sciurus said:
(most confusing part, something about eels, oysters and turtles. I have no idea what レバーあと means)

ウナギと牡蠣にすっぽん レバーあと。。。
Click to expand...
It's just a list of what's for dinner. あと is used in lists like this as a pause word before adding to the list, like 'and also'.
It could be 'eel, oysters, and liver of soft shelled turtle' or 'eel, oysters, soft-shelled turtle, and liver', depending on whether it's a comma or a の that is omitted between them. I'm going to go with the latter as making more sense in this list. (That is to say, I don't think that the liver of soft-shelled turtles is ever eaten separately, not that I've eaten soft-shelled turtle, but... they aren't very big and they aren't a very fatty animal so their livers are probably not especially good.)

- This month's food expenses... (don't really get what the omitted ending should be)
Click to expand...
Well, that's a long and expensive-sounding list of luxury foods, so just apply logic to the context.

- What's with that joke... (I don't get the joke )
Click to expand...
That's the son's line or the mother's? Either way it means basically "What a joke!" but you interpret it more as "You've got to be joking" if the son says it and "Just kidding!" if the mother says it.
 
Yes, it's すっぽん、レバー. If it means "the liver of soft-shelled turtles", すっぽんの肝 must be used instead of すっぽんのレバー.

The last line is mother's, judging from "-" at the top of the line and the female language 冗談よ (not 冗談だよ).

Sciurus said:
何でもいいのね じゃあ。。。
Anything, you say? Well then...
Click to expand...
Did you interpret いい as 言い, maybe? If so, it's 良い.
 
なるほど。 I didn't realize you had to use that phrasing. (Well maybe not that *exact* phrasing since I still don't think people eat turtle livers separately, but maybe カモの肝 or something.)

勉強になりました。ありがとう！
 
Thank you for the answers. You guys are the best
 
SomeCallMeChris said:
Well maybe not that *exact* phrasing since I still don't think people eat turtle livers separately, but maybe カモの肝 or something.
Click to expand...
カモのレバー would be acceptable. I think the difference is by whether the liver has been traditionally used in Japanese cuisine or not, just like アンコウのレバー sounds odd.
 
Toritoribe said:
カモのレバー would be acceptable. I think the difference is by whether the liver has been traditionally used in Japanese cuisine or not, just like アンコウのレバー sounds odd.
Click to expand...
Ahhh, that's more in line with what I originally thought (that レバー was liver as food and 肝 was liver as an organ), but slightly subtler.
Thanks!
 
レバー and 肝 are both basically for food. 肝臓 is mostly used for an organ. As for the liver as food, the size is not a problem. Even the liver of eel is eaten separately.

spit‐roasted eel livers
 
Two more sentences giving me trouble.

1. それは私達に言える事だ。

Does this mean:
a) That is something that we can say.
b) That is something that applies to (can be said about) us.
c) something else?


2. Context: After a fight between two parties, one of them retreats and says this:

今日はこれで帰るが次は決着つけてやるぞ

Which I understand as, "I'll be leaving for today, but next time we'll settle this for sure."

And then the reply:

とか何とか言って逃げんじゃないわよ

I guess the first part is like "Say what you will", "Sure, yeah, whatever", and then something about running away, but is she saying "don't run away" or "I won't run away" or...? I don't get how the two parts connect.
 
1)
Both are possible, but it's often used as the meaning #b.

2)
The -te form is used to connect the two clauses, i.e., it represents "and".
とか何とか言う means "to say those things" there.
逃げんじゃないわよ is negative imperative, thus, the subject is "you". When it expresses the speaker's excuse, 逃げるんじゃないわよ/のよ is more common.
As you might already understand, 逃げる is not just "to run away here" but "not to come back and fight with us again" in that case.
 
Thanks for breaking the second sentence down, Toritoribe-san. It's a lot clearer now.

So, uh... To put it back together...

"Don't say those things, come back and fight with us again." ?
 
とか何とか言って is not negative imperative. そんなこと言って might be more familiar to you, may be?

I think there is no problem with "Don't run away from us!" for 逃げんじゃないわよ if you understand that it's not just "Don't run away from here."
 
So... "Don't run away from us as you say those things"?

I'm just trying to figure out how it all fits into one coherent sentence.
 
It's not "as."

The nuance is "Don't say those things (i.e. "don't talk all tough like that") and then go running away on us, you hear!?"

At its heart, it's a pretty straightforward use of the -te form to describe actions happening in sequence, though I can see how it might throw you for a loop the first time you see it.

A similar example might be something like 「自分から誘っておいてドタキャンする奴なんて最低」 or what-have-you.
 
My interpretation is とか何とか言って、逃げんじゃないわよ, i.e., じゃない only negates 逃げる. The nuance of the -te form would be more likely closer to adversative conjunction in this case just like とか何とか言うけど/言ったくせに. It's possible to interpret that じゃない negates the whole とか何とか言って逃げる, though.
 
Another tricky one.

Context: girl is turning down suitors at a beach.
私より他にお似合いのコがいくらでもいるでしょ？(Aren't there are many other better-suited girls around here?)
声かけるならそういうコにしておきなさい。
The second sentence is a bit unclear. Based on context, I'm guessing something like "If you want to call out to (hit on) someone, please do it with (hit on) those girls."

Am I in the ballpark?
 
Sciurus said:
Another tricky one.
I'm guessing something like "If you want to call out to (hit on) someone, please do it with (hit on) those girls."

Am I in the ballpark?
Click to expand...
Yes - and you hit a home run.
 
Hey, been a while

I'm having trouble with an expression that I suspect is a slang of some sort.
Context: two groups of people arguing, then one person turns to his friend and says:

行くぞ。こんなお花畑を引き連れる。

Basically he's exasperated and saying "let's bail" but I don't understand the meaning of お花畑 here.
 
Isn't there any typos/misreading there? It doesn't make sense at all. What is the full conversation? Isn't お花畑 mentioned previously in the story?
 
Nope. First and only mention.

Since they're talking to a group of girls, could this "flower garden" refer to a group of pretty girls? I didn't think it was linked to the next part (先生の指図を受けたところで時間の無駄だぜ), but maybe put together, could this mean something like "Taking this group of girls with us is a waste of time, even if it was the teacher's order" or something?
 
Perhaps there is actually no period after 引き連れる, right?
 
Yeah, it's an exchange in a manga and those were in two separate speech bubbles in the same panel. I mentally inserted a period after the first one, which caused the confusion I guess.
 
こんなお花畑を引き連れる doesn't make sense as a single sentence, but it's valid as a modifying clause in "こんなお花畑を引き連れる先生".
Your guess about お花畑 is correct. It refers to the girls.

It's a waste of time to take orders from the teacher who takes such girls with him/her.
(Notice that the one who is accompanied by the girls is the teacher, not the speaker (and his friend).)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Sticky
Want a Kanji tattoo? Read before you ask!
3 4 5
Replies
109
Views
100K
Mike Cash
Translations needed, my Japanese study
3 4 5
Replies
114
Views
11K
musicisgood
J
Vertical Japanese translation
Replies
21
Views
17K
Buntaro
J
  • Locked
Japanese to English translation help
Replies
4
Views
15K
Mike Cash
Japanese honorifics
Replies
4
Views
12K
UnsungH3R0
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…