Need a word or phrase translated?

[iroirona]

Hi all,
How would you translate this: 見も知らぬ私を私が見ていた?
My guess is somewhere along the line: "I looked at the me who I don't recognise"
or "I looked at my unrecognisable self"

知らぬ= unaware? (is the nuance between 知らないand 知らぬ similar?)
見も知らぬ=? (not recognisable?)
what does the ~ぬ do when added to the negative form verb 知る?

Thanks in advance.

 

[kumo]

ぬ works in the same way as ない, it's just a more "ojii-san" way of saying it.
見知らぬ means "unknown, strange", the も is there to give emphasis.
I think your translation is right, but maybe it would be better to say "the me who I don't even recognize", so you don't lose the も nuance.

 

[Glenn]

Or, a little more naturally, "I looked at myself, who I didn't even recognize." That's a tough one to put into English.

"I didn't even recognize myself when I saw myself." (beh, too many "myself"s, I think.)

"I stood there looking, not even recognizing myself." (a little liberal, but this seems to be something out of a novel and a bit artsy.)

[Edit] "I stood there looking at my reflection, not even recognizing myself" would be a possibility, depending on how exactly he's looking. I felt that adding "at my reflection" was better because "look" needs an object.

 

[Elizabeth]

それは問題ないと思いますよ。その他に、「正確であれば他に何もが構わない」はどうでしょうか。確かに直訳じゃないんですが自然な日本語なのでしょうか。その上、正しいでしょうか。どうぞよろしくお願いします！

ありがとうＧｌｅｎｎさん！もそういう訳が私の心にも浮かんだが 「構う」 という言葉のほうがちょっとつよい感じするのかよくわからなかったですね。 「何もが」 の必要ではない「が」以外は文法的に正しいと思います。さて、今、日本にいるから、問題なく誰かに聞けるはずですね。
使っているうちに自然と身についてくるといいですね。

 

[Glenn]

ありがとうＧｌｅｎｎさん！もそういう訳が私の心にも浮かんだが 「構う」 という言葉のほうがちょっとつよい感じするのかよくわからなかったですね。 「何もが」 の必要ではない「が」以外は文法的に正しいと思います。さて、今、日本にいるから、問題なく誰かに聞けるはずですね。
使っているうちに自然と身についてくるといいですね。

ハハ、そうですね。実は私はその「が」を気にしたんですよ。「必要か、抜かせばいいかどっちだ？」と思いながら、「まあ、『誰もが』というのを見たはずだから、『何もが』を使っていいはずだな」と決定しました。まだ読んでいないんですが、今グーグルで検索するとこのページが出てきました。情報一杯のようです。もしかして、この質問を答えるんですね。１６．２の部分に「疑問語＋も、が」の説明があります。後でゆっくりと読むんです。

 

[henpai]

Hiya. I found a silly Japanese term that just doesn't want to get encrypted...
There's a guy who does a stock stupid comment, very boke-like, and the tsukkomi is done by a girl: "そういうノリで言うのやめてよもう。まだ慣れないの よ…"

"Stop with that nori already, geez. I can only take so much..."

That's how I'd translate it, but what could nori mean here? Only things that come up are sea-weed related matches...

Edit: Just to add, there's just no way it could be translated as 'seaweed' here, it wouldn't make any type of sense... >__<

 

[Elizabeth]

ハハ、そうですね。実は私はその「が」を気にしたんですよ。「必要か、抜かせばいいかどっちだ？」と思いながら、「まあ、『誰もが』というのを見たはずだから、『何もが』を使っていいはずだな」と決定しました。まだ読んでいないんですが、今グーグルで検索するとこのページが出てきました。情報一杯のようです。もしかして、この質問を答えるんですね。１６．２の部分に「疑問語＋も、が」の説明があります。後でゆっくりと読むんです。

なぜかわからないすが、「疑問詞 も が」は使われる場合がありますが、「何もがかまわない」
はないそうです。日本語の文法について、よくわからないところがあったら、
「考えすぎないでください」「もっと簡単な言葉を使ったらいい」そういうのは多くの日本人の
意見でしょう。
ところで、時間があるときにリンク私も読みたいと思っています。どうもありがとう。

Glennさんのように、私も、また日本に長期滞在すると良いかもしれませんが、
今私の最大関心事は彼との関係なので、そうすれば、アメリ カに帰国したとき、い つ日本にまた戻れるかわからないし。。。となってちょっと難しいときもありますね。:sigh: その代わりに、もっともっと書き込まなければならないよ。

 

[GoldCoinLover]

I need to say, "Do you watch south park?

I could probably say this if I got all the conjugated forms of "to watch" (not to see), thanks. Would osmeone give me all the conjugates for "to watch"? Thanks

 

[doinkies]

The verb for "to watch" is the same as "to see": 見る. There is another way to write it, 観る, which does imply watching something, but it's not commonly used. Just say 「『サウス･パーク』を見ますか？」.

 

[kumo]

Hiya. I found a silly Japanese term that just doesn't want to get encrypted...
There's a guy who does a stock stupid comment, very boke-like, and the tsukkomi is done by a girl: "そういうノリで言うのやめてよもう。まだ慣れないのよ…"
"Stop with that nori already, geez. I can only take so much..."
That's how I'd translate it, but what could nori mean here? Only things that come up are sea-weed related matches...
Edit: Just to add, there's just no way it could be translated as 'seaweed' here, it wouldn't make any type of sense... >__<;

I couldn't find the word either, but goo has a definition for ノリツッコミ:
会話で，相手のぼけにいったん便乗し，自分自身でそれに突っ込む手法。
〔芸能用語が一般化した〕
Also there's the word のりのり, which means "in high spirits". It's probably related, I think... Sorry if this doesn't help much.

 

[GoldCoinLover]

One more thing

ASK HOW TO SAY 'LETS FIGHT.' KENKA SURU OR 'KENKA MASHOU
NEED HELP WITH" Sono kippu wo kauno wo tetsudatte kuremasenka?)"

MASEN PART, why is it 'masen to mean "would you?"
Would you help me out to buy the ticket?


I know this is complicated, but I only want help with the last part. Why do they use 'masen', this is the negative form...

I guess maybe it translates to "Wouldn't you..?" in english.

 

[epigene]

There's a guy who does a stock stupid comment, very boke-like, and the tsukkomi is done by a girl: "そういうノリで言うのやめてよもう。まだ慣れないのよ…"
"Stop with that nori already, geez. I can only take so much..."
That's how I'd translate it, but what could nori mean here? Only things that come up are sea-weed related matches...
Edit: Just to add, there's just no way it could be translated as 'seaweed' here, it wouldn't make any type of sense... >__<;

To add to kumo-san's suggestion, "nori" is used very widely these days and has very broad range of meanings. The root word is 乗る (to ride). Expanding from here, it is used to mean the "path or direction" you are going and also "perspective." So, you can translate "nori" in the comment you posted as "way," "style," "perspective," and many others, depending on what the topic is about.

As kumo-san suggests, "nori-nori" is always postive in usage. It's different in meaning from "nori" in the comment in question but derives from the same root word.

HTH!!

 

[henpai]

Thanks a bunch for the answers! Got me out of a total dead end...

I couldn't find the word either, but goo has a definition for ノリツッコミ:
会話で，相手のぼけにいったん便乗し，自分自身でそれに突っ込む手法。

Ahah! Now that I think of it, I've actually heard or seen the word noritsukkomi somewhere... ☝

But did I understand the explanation wrong, or is this really about the boke doing a self-tsukkomi? (By using the words said to him/her...? 便乗し is slightly weird...)

To add to kumo-san's suggestion, "nori" is used very widely these days and has very broad range of meanings. The root word is 乗る (to ride). Expanding from here, it is used to mean the "path or direction" you are going and also "perspective." So, you can translate "nori" in the comment you posted as "way," "style," "perspective," and many others, depending on what the topic is about.

So there really was a hidden agenda behind it... 'Style' is what the word obviously was supposed to be, but it was hard to settle on anything like that when the dictionaries were unanimously bent on seaweed...

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[KrazyKat]

One more thing
ASK HOW TO SAY 'LETS FIGHT.' KENKA SURU OR 'KENKA MASHOU
NEED HELP WITH" Sono kippu wo kauno wo tetsudatte kuremasenka?)"
MASEN PART, why is it 'masen to mean "would you?"
Would you help me out to buy the ticket?
I know this is complicated, but I only want help with the last part. Why do they use 'masen', this is the negative form...
I guess maybe it translates to "Wouldn't you..?" in english.

Ｙｏｕ ｃａｎ'ｔ ｈａｖｅ ｍａｓｈｏｕ ｂｙ ｉｔｓｅｌｆ， ｉｔ ｎｅｅｄｓ ｔｏ ｆｏｌｌｏｗ ａ ｍａｓｕ ｓｔｅｍ．
ｋｅｎｋａ ｉｓ ａ ｎｏｕｎ， ｓｏ ａｄｄ ｓｕｒｕ ｔｏ ｍａｋｅ ｉｔ ａ ｖｅｒｂ， ｌｉｋｅ ｂｅｎｋｙｏｕ ｅｔｃ．
ｓｕｒｕ'ｓ ｍａｓｕ ｓｔｅｍ ｉｓ ｓｈｉ
ｔｈｅｒｅｆｏｒｅ ｋｅｎｋａ ｓｈｉｍａｓｈｏｕ．

 

[GoldCoinLover]

Ｙｏｕ ｃａｎ'ｔ ｈａｖｅ ｍａｓｈｏｕ ｂｙ ｉｔｓｅｌｆ， ｉｔ ｎｅｅｄｓ ｔｏ ｆｏｌｌｏｗ ａ ｍａｓｕ ｓｔｅｍ．
ｋｅｎｋａ ｉｓ ａ ｎｏｕｎ， ｓｏ ａｄｄ ｓｕｒｕ ｔｏ ｍａｋｅ ｉｔ ａ ｖｅｒｂ， ｌｉｋｅ ｂｅｎｋｙｏｕ ｅｔｃ．
ｓｕｒｕ'ｓ ｍａｓｕ ｓｔｅｍ ｉｓ ｓｈｉ
ｔｈｅｒｅｆｏｒｅ ｋｅｎｋａ ｓｈｉｍａｓｈｏｕ．

Oh, so kenka shimashou is more polite right?

 

[KrazyKat]

Oh, so kenka shimashou is more polite right?

More polite than what?

 

[bentenmusume]

To add to kumo-san's suggestion, "nori" is used very widely these days and has very broad range of meanings. The root word is 乗る (to ride). Expanding from here, it is used to mean the "path or direction" you are going and also "perspective." So, you can translate "nori" in the comment you posted as "way," "style," "perspective," and many others, depending on what the topic is about.

I'm just going to add this illustration of "nori" used to refer a way of speaking, tone of voice, attitude/whatever -- it concerns a recent story in Japanese news, so I thought it would be timely and relevant.

Short background info for anyone who hasn't heard --it was discovered that Toyoko Inn (a leading business hotel chain) had broken various building codes by converting handicapped parking spaces and facilities for disabled people into regular guest rooms, office space, etc. The day the news broke, the president of the company held a press conference in which he "apologized" for the whole incident in a sickeningly (it was to me, at least) casual way. "We broke some building codes, yeah. Sorry about that. I guess we just kind of figured, that, you know, even if we build these things, it's not like anyone's really going to use them anyway, you know?" -- was basically the tone, and he brushed off the incident by comparing it to a minor speed limit violation.

Needless to say, many people took offense at this guy's remarks:

社長の会見も、弱者への蔑みが感じられてとっても不愉快でした。
今回の違反をスピード違反にたとえるあたりは「ありゃ、ばれちゃったか。」「なんでこんなに問題になるの？」という軽～いノリ。

If you want to read the whole post, it's here. If you're interested in reading more about the whole incident, just search Google's Japanese news (or your news site of choice) for 東横イン.

(In an amazing coincidence, I actually stayed at a Toyoko Inn the night before this news broke.)

 

[Elizabeth]

我がの家の塀の隙間から、道路側に枝を伸ばしている１メトル程の高さの山椒の木に
５月になると決まって訪れる客人がある。

This is the introductory sentence from a newspaper feature article on the observation of eggs hatching and subsequent pest invasion in a neighborhood tree. What I'm having the most trouble with is the last part, minus the date of course. （木に決まって訪れる客人がある。） The only interpretations that come to mind are somewhat 'literary' or metaphorical, and even those don't account for all the points of confusion, which is why I'm not confident enough to even venture a reasonable judgment here.

Or maybe I'm just really fogged out and under a cloud of jet lag now as well which makes everything much harder than it has to be.

 

[bentenmusume]

Are there some typos in there? I would expect 「我が家」 instead of 「我がの家」 and 「メートル」 instead of 「メトル」, but I could be wrong.

I think your biggest problem is that you're hooking up 「木に決まって」 instead of 「決まって訪れる」. Make a mental break after 「木に」 (of course, everything that comes before that is a relative clause describing the tree) and see if that helps.

The author is talking about a visitor -- a "set" vistor, a "fixed" visitor, a visitor who comes by without fail when the calendar hits May.

 

[kumo]

I'm having trouble translating this definition for 御の字:
「御城などへ御ノ字を不付唱ふ城の番場又城内或は中屋敷抔いふ中屋敷御役人中様など書面にも認る也。」
Here's what I don't understand:
-不付 (ふふ？） I can't find it in any dictionary.
-いふ (is it the same thing as 言う? And if so, shouldn't it be 抔といふ？)
-役人中様 Not sure what 中 is doing here.
-書面にも認る I can't make any sense out of this. With goo's definition for "shitatamaru" it would mean something like "reborn as a new, improved document". This can't be correct...
-也 (same as です?)

 

[Elizabeth]

Are there some typos in there? I would expect 「我が家」 instead of 「我がの家」 and 「メートル」 instead of 「メトル」, but I could be wrong.

Yeah, those are my transcription errors. :sorry:

The author is talking about a visitor -- a "set" vistor, a "fixed" visitor, a visitor who comes by without fail when the calendar hits May.

Ahhh, yes I did know that usage of "決まって" and 山椒の客 makes perfect sense in this case....Doumo arigatou.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

I'm having trouble translating this definition for 御の字:
「御城などへ御ノ字を不付唱ふ城の番場又城内或は中屋敷抔いふ中屋敷御役人中様など書面にも認る也。」
Here's what I don't understand:
-不付 (ふふ？） I can't find it in any dictionary.
-いふ (is it the same thing as 言う? And if so, shouldn't it be 抔といふ？)
-役人中様 Not sure what 中 is doing here.
-書面にも認る I can't make any sense out of this. With goo's definition for "shitatamaru" it would mean something like "reborn as a new, improved document". This can't be correct...
-也 (same as です?)

Wow, what are you doing reading 『浪花聞書』?!? That's great!!!

To answer your questions to the best of my knowlege:

First off, try splitting this into three sentences.
御城などへ御ノ字を不付唱ふ。
城の番場又城内或は中屋敷抔いふ。
中屋敷御役人中様など書面にも認る也。

不付is most likely read as つけず No, it's not directly read ふふ

いふ is in most likelihood いう. There is no と because what is missing is an を instead. It's just a simple case of omission.
Incidentally, 抔 is read など here.

御役人中様 This I'm not entirely sure about. I think it refers to something like "among (local) officials"

書面にも認める Try reading it as （しょめん）にも（みとめ）る

也 Not the same as です, but kind of close. It's read なり, by the way.

Just for general information purposes, this quote comes from an old dictionary of sorts, called 『浪花聞書』,written to explain the 浪花 （なにわ） or Osaka dialect. This particular entry seems to be referring to the usage of the kanji 御 rather than to the actual phrase 「御の字」.

kumo, you have truly earned my respect today!

 

[kevinsano]

ライブメタルとは？
what is "life metal"
遺跡などから発掘される謎の金属片。
A strange metal excavated from ancient ruins

さまざまな種類があり、過去の歴史や兵器のデータなどの情報が記録されている。
自らの意思をもっており、ライブメタルに認められたものは、さらなる知識や力を得る事ができるという。

it's just the last two phrases, but I thought I'd include the first 2 for reference. I think I get the general idea, but it still confuses me.

 

[Elizabeth]

ライブメタルとは？
what is "life metal"
遺跡などから発掘される謎の金属片。
A strange metal excavated from ancient ruins
さまざまな種類があり、過去の歴史や兵器のデータなどの情報が記録されている。
自らの意思をもっており、ライブメタルに認められたものは、さらなる知識や力を得る事ができるという。
it's just the last two phrases, but I thought I'd include the first 2 for reference. I think I get the general idea, but it still confuses me.

Live metals, at least the modern definition, I think are precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, etc. Do you have the part that follows that last sentence ?

 

[Elizabeth]

On second thought, nevermind about the last sentence. I found it myself. This is from a game, right ? And appears to be ヴァンとエールはこのライブメタルを用いてモデルXへと変身する。 In this case the properties of a live metal are probably completely
arbitary and have nothing to do with the real thing.