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

Need a word or phrase translated?

Not sure if this is also the thread for English to Japanese, but...

I would very much like to have the original Japanese for this quote from Murakami's Pinball, 1973, if anyone happens to know it or is able to look it up:

"The obligation of philosophy," I drew on my Kant, is to eradicate illusions based on misunderstanding... Oh, switch-panel! Rest ye at the bottom of the reservoir."

The page number in Kodansha's English Library edition is 102, if that is helpful at all. Thank you!!
 
「哲学の義務は、」と僕はカントを引用した。「誤解に よって生じた幻想を除去することにある。…配電盤よ貯 水池の底に安らかに眠れ。」
 
It sounds different than described. Can you include the preceding or later sentence as context ?
 
Elizabeth said:
It sounds different than described. Can you include the preceding or later sentence as context ?
Click to expand...

Of course, thank you for the reply!

Beforehand she tells the person comforting her that it's not a big deal, and that surely everyone has times like those, where they are overwhelmed by painful memories. The preceding line is 「私いつも泣き虫じゃん、何て事ないじゃんか…」 and then more crying. The following dialogue is just her saying "I'm sorry" and "Thank you" for the comfort.

Perhaps she is wondering why the other person had to notice her crying at a time like that. There was no subject identifier so I assumed she was still talking about herself becoming aware of something. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make this so confusing. Thank you for your patience!
 
Okay, thank you very much! I guess my confusion over the subject was making me try to turn it into something it didn't mean. Sorry for the trouble!
 
Hi,

I have a couple.
I've been working on this book on and off over the years and the following word came up.

光悦

Upon putting "kooetsu" into an English language internet search engine those two kanji came back up.
And it appears to be a name. Which would explain why it is not in my New Nelson's Kanji dictionary.
Are there any other possible meanings to the above kanji?

2nd,

I was in the Nelson's and came across a word 'kanpai', which ordinarily I know as "cheers"...
something people say before drinking a glass of alcohol.
But the meaning here was "complete defeat".
Here is the kanji
完敗
This is not the same as the 'kanpai' that one says when drinking alcohol, right?
To me it would seem not. Unless one was trying not to drink and then fell off the wagon.
 
Aren't 校閲 and 乾杯 the words you are looking for?
 
Hi again

I had help with this phrase last week. あなたの誕生日が素敵な日になりますように！ (thanks Toritoribe)

I can't seem to fit it on my card in one line. Could you tell me an appropriate place to break it up in to a second line

Thanks again!

Lewie
 
You can break Japanese anywhere; it doesn't matter.
 
Similar I guess to "bad timing" or "unluckily" よりによってこんなときに (Now of all times...). It doesn't mean the other person only notices when she is crying, although に限って feels like that connotation.
 
Japanese become more and more popular now, and I also want to learn Japanese, does anyyone know how to learn Japanese well. Can you give me some good suggestions?
 
Toritoribe said:
Aren't 校閲 and 乾杯 the words you are looking for?
Click to expand...
Sumimasen.
I missed some explanation on my part.
For the first one, the Kanji are the ones I have and do not have any
reading or meaning for. I just plugged "kooetsu" into a search engine to see what I would get.

For the 2nd one,
I just so happened upon the reading "kanpai" under the kanji I listed above and the meaning given.
This one is more of a weird and interesting coincidence, I guess.
When I saw the definition "complete defeat" I immediately thought, "Is this what people are saying when
they down a drink?" Nah, couldn't me. But I had to ask someone about it anyway.

Sumimasen
 
Last edited:
Is there a difference between プリ昭和 and プレ昭和 or has the latter, for whatever reason, become conventional to mark references to prior dates and eras ?

Confusing plai/y, pla- and pre- (prefix) etc when it is would be difficult to find a topic that would be more appropriately reversed for "true" Japanese, but I do digress...
 
Last edited:
That's プレ昭和 "pre-Showa". I haven't ever heard プリ昭和, and google suggests the word is never used. However, for instance, プリモダン seems to be accepted as a transliteration of "pre-modern" to some extent.
 
Ok, thanks. That it is according to formal usage and my own experience. プリ is on Google from foreigners most likely because that is the way it is pronounced in English and should follow accordingly in the host language.

「外来語」として使う分には「プリ~~~」でも「プレ~~~」でもどっちでもいい言葉がありますね。
しかし 英語の発音の原則としてはPre- という書き方であれば必ず「プリィ」と発音するものなのです。
 
大半の日本人はプレ＝英語のｐｒｅ（前）と理解できますが、
プリと聞いてｐｒｅと理解できる人はあまりいないと思います。
もとは英語でも、カタカナになったとたんに日本語になっちゃうんですよね。
 

Unfortunately, we lose control over pronunciation once it gets adopted into Japanese. There are even distinctions made that don't exist in the original language:

ガム
ゴム

ガラス
グラス

バー
バール
 
Hello!
My first post here. ^^

I have a problem with a certain piece of dialogue. Context: a feudal lord talks to one of his personal guards, when they meet in the morning:

L.: 如何致した近う
G.: ...いいえ、 こちらにて
L.: 昨夜は姿が見えなんだが(...)

The first line is the most unclear to me. What part of speech is 近う? An adverb, meaning 'near', 'close'?
Also what 如何致した could mean in the context of the reply? I don't know this expression, from examples I could find on the net, I figured out it could mean something like 'What happened?'. But in this context it doesn't seem to have much sense.

I'd be very grateful for help.
 
Is there a space or a line break between 如何致した and 近う? It seems to mean 如何致した？近う寄れ; "What's the matter? Come here."
 
Hi, could someone be kind enough to translate to English the phrase in my enclosed picture?
Thanks.
 
the power/ability to record (16 times)
 
Toritoribe said:
Is there a space or a line break between 如何致した and 近う? It seems to mean 如何致した？近う寄れ; "What's the matter? Come here."
Click to expand...

The dialogue comes from a manga, so it's not so obvious, but yes, technically there's an interline between these two parts. It looks like this, only written vertically:

如何致した
近う

But there isn't any punctuation mark in this sentence.

So you think 近う could be an abbreviated version of 近う寄れ? That's interesting and would acctually make sense, because the characters in that scene talk standing at a certain distance from each other.

So in this context the guard's reply could mean that he refuses and wants to stay where he is? (ah, I wish they used some verbs ^^')
That would make sense too, because he's wearing fresh injuries on his face, which he'd probably prefer to hide from his lord. And he indeed doesn't change his position to the end of their conversation.

Anyway, thank you so much for your help and your suggestion - I really got stuck on that first phrase.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Sticky
Need a Kanji Translated? Just ask!
81 82 83
Replies
2K
Views
308K
Ukigumo
N
"Proverb" Translation
2
Replies
35
Views
75K
Swede
S
M
Help with translation
Replies
12
Views
59K
Jerry1834
J
H
What is "half-width" number?
Replies
6
Views
79K
Mike Cash
A
Need to change car navigation/audio/video system language to English
Replies
11
Views
115K
Rich345
R
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…