Need a word or phrase translated?
- Thread starter Buntaro
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- 12 Oct 2004
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Hmm? I might be misunderstanding you, but 米国（べいこく） is the United States. It's just a formal/written-style equivalent of アメリカ, with both of them being abbreviations of the official name, 亜米利加(アメリカ)合衆国. (BTW, for anyone else -- Elizabeth and Paul already know, I'm sure -- who is curious why the US is 'rice country', you can see that it just comes from that second character above in the phonetic kanji representation of 'America'. The reason they don't use the 亜 is because it's already the abbreviation for 亜細亜（アジア）)Elizabeth said:Beikoku -- America, though, not the US
Anyway, you can get 北米（ほくべい） and 南米（なんべい） for the continents of North and South America, but 米国 by itself is simply referring to the good old US of A. Check the definition from 大辞林: 【米国】 (Actually, on the other hand it seems that 【アメリカ】 can apparently be used as a cover term for the アメリカ大陸, although I would imagine that it's much more commonly used to refer to the USA.)
some examples:
米国大統領選（べいこくだいとうりょうせん） = the U.S. presidential election
日米関係（にちべいかんけい） = Japan-U.S. relations
...neither of which have anything to do with any part of the American continent other than the United States.
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Also, backing up to a previous question.
I can understand not quite being able to distinguish between, for example, 「誰にでも落ち込む時はある」 and 「誰でも落ち込む時はある」 (I'm not sure myself that there's a _significant_ difference in nuance here, although there are certainly other sentences one could think up in which one or the other would be inappropriate), but I'm not quite sure why you're having a hard time accepting 「誰にでも」 as grammatical.Elizabeth said:
I mean, it's perfectly possible to see other particles/question words used in a similar construction, like: (quick examples pulled from Google)
誰とでも無理なく話せる
誰とでも仲良くなれる方法
どこへでも気軽に携帯できる
自分が思ったことをどこにでもいいから、書いておいたほうが良い。
誰からでも学ぶことができる☆
Or is it something else that was bothering you about 「誰にでも」?
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Welcome to another edition of 'sentence translations that didn't quite work' 
国内では柑橘類の王座はミカンが握っているんだが、世界の中で見れば王様は何といってもオレンジって寸法さ。
Within Japan the satsuma (mikan) has hold of the 'King of citrus fruits'
title but if you look around the world what ever you say the King of
citrus is defined as the orange.
Apart from being generally clumsy the use of 寸法 is a little confusing. Am I misreading it or is it often used in metaphorical way?
国内では柑橘類の王座はミカンが握っているんだが、世界の中で見れば王様は何といってもオレンジって寸法さ。
Within Japan the satsuma (mikan) has hold of the 'King of citrus fruits'
title but if you look around the world what ever you say the King of
citrus is defined as the orange.
Apart from being generally clumsy the use of 寸法 is a little confusing. Am I misreading it or is it often used in metaphorical way?
To my taste, "has hold of" and "what ever you say" are too literal. You can just say something "holds" the title; for the second one there are plenty of options, like "it's beyond argument" or even just "definitely" or something. 2 cents: it may seem like being "faithful" to translate idioms literally, but you can sometimes confuse readers - it's often better to just mull over the meaning and then say it in English without thinking too hard. 
寸法: That sentence is very casually constructed I think. As in your translation ("define"), I also think "オレンジって寸法" sounds like "orange is the standard" or "orange is the fruit by which others are judged" or something...
寸法: That sentence is very casually constructed I think. As in your translation ("define"), I also think "オレンジって寸法" sounds like "orange is the standard" or "orange is the fruit by which others are judged" or something...
- 12 Oct 2004
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I think you're confusing yourself by trying to think of it as a "subject." Whether or not you have the 「に」 in there, it's not a grammatical subject.Elizabeth said:
Take a simpler sentence like 「誰でも出来る」. 「誰でも」 isn't the "subject." It's a clause that's connecting to the predicate 「出来る」 the same way that 「高くても」 and 「雨が降っても」 connect to the predicates that follow them in sentences like 「高くても買いたい」 or 「雨が降っても平気」.
I dropped the 「に」 to simplify the example, but the theory is the same. These ～ても constructions are all clauses that hook up with a predicate and have the basic meaning of "even if.../no matter if..." Grammatically, what's going on here has nothing to do with the concept of "subject."
GaijinPunch
遠いから行きません
- 25 Nov 2004
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Beikoku 米国
GaijinPunch
遠いから行きません
- 25 Nov 2004
- 1,275
- 34
Taihen generally denotes a more chaotic situation... I'd go with 気の毒です。
Hell, I don't know... nobody's even told me that in English before!
Hell, I don't know... nobody's even told me that in English before!
Elizabeth
先輩
- 22 Apr 2003
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- 135
次の記事では、下手に書かれたいくつかの所がありますね。
例えば、「不審な男に該当するような男」と言うためにどうして 「人物の特定ができていない男」が使われるのかよくわかりません。 犯人とは限らないので誰かとは、特定できないという事のですか？
最初は、「その部分」の使い方が違うかと思ったので、何が言いたいのかも全くわかりませんでした。でも多分、「包丁を買ったところ、事件発生直後に近くでも見られていたけど、誰も事件を目撃しませんでした。」ということだと思います。そうしなければ、意味を成さないね。
日本 語は不要な言葉をよく省いていますね。前後の文、その場の状 況や雰意気で意味を理解しなければならない場合が多い です。
4年前、東京・世田谷区で宮沢みきおさん（当時44）一家4人が殺害された事件で、事件発生直後に近くで目撃された不審な男のイラストが公開されました。
イラストの男は30歳前後で、身長175センチから180センチ、黒っぽいジャンパーを着ています。当時、宮沢さんの家の周辺で、この男に該当するような訪問者は一切確認されていません。また、事件の前日、犯行に使われたものと同じ種類の包丁を購入し、その後、人物の特定ができていない男のイラストも公開されました。警視庁は、これらの男が事件にかかわっている可柏ｫもあるとみて、引き続き、情報の提供を呼びかけています。
例えば、「不審な男に該当するような男」と言うためにどうして 「人物の特定ができていない男」が使われるのかよくわかりません。 犯人とは限らないので誰かとは、特定できないという事のですか？
最初は、「その部分」の使い方が違うかと思ったので、何が言いたいのかも全くわかりませんでした。でも多分、「包丁を買ったところ、事件発生直後に近くでも見られていたけど、誰も事件を目撃しませんでした。」ということだと思います。そうしなければ、意味を成さないね。
日本 語は不要な言葉をよく省いていますね。前後の文、その場の状 況や雰意気で意味を理解しなければならない場合が多い です。
4年前、東京・世田谷区で宮沢みきおさん（当時44）一家4人が殺害された事件で、事件発生直後に近くで目撃された不審な男のイラストが公開されました。
イラストの男は30歳前後で、身長175センチから180センチ、黒っぽいジャンパーを着ています。当時、宮沢さんの家の周辺で、この男に該当するような訪問者は一切確認されていません。また、事件の前日、犯行に使われたものと同じ種類の包丁を購入し、その後、人物の特定ができていない男のイラストも公開されました。警視庁は、これらの男が事件にかかわっている可柏ｫもあるとみて、引き続き、情報の提供を呼びかけています。
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Any opinions / corrections on the following translation?
初めて催眠に入る人の場合、 とても浅い催眠状態から、 覚醒してもらって、 催眠状態と普通に覚醒した状態とを比べてもらうことがよくあります。
I often ask people who are experiencing hypnotism for the first time to, having been awakened from a very light hypnotic state, compare their normal wakening state to that when hypnotised.
初めて催眠に入る人の場合、 とても浅い催眠状態から、 覚醒してもらって、 催眠状態と普通に覚醒した状態とを比べてもらうことがよくあります。
I often ask people who are experiencing hypnotism for the first time to, having been awakened from a very light hypnotic state, compare their normal wakening state to that when hypnotised.
My advice is to reread the English, think about the meaning without thinking too hard about the Japanese, and reorganize the sentence structure.PaulTB said:
e.g. "When hypnotizing someone for the first time, I will often put them into a light hypnotic state, then awaken them and ask them to compare their normal awareness with being hypnotized."
What is missing in that translation of mine is the connection between the 眠 in saimin and 覚醒 in 覚醒した状態, but since there is no reference to "sleep" in the English word "hypnosis" it doesn't matter much.
GaijinPunch
遠いから行きません
- 25 Nov 2004
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- 34
Sounds good to me.
GaijinPunch
遠いから行きません
- 25 Nov 2004
- 1,275
- 34
"yo" is a simple term used to show expression. It's... well... everywhere.
As for your first question... well... Nande & Doushite are two ways to say why. If you want to get really nitty gritty, but for all intents and purposes, just think of it as two ways to say it.
As for your first question... well... Nande & Doushite are two ways to say why. If you want to get really nitty gritty, but for all intents and purposes, just think of it as two ways to say it.
