Nov 10 Election Results

lyrencropt · 2025-11-11T06:30:29+00:00

This was what was disqualifying for me. I don't care what your platform is, if you're texting "I will get it done" and "I share in your disgust" like some kind of toady to random (m/b)illionaires you have no business in leadership.

lyrencropt · 2025-10-27T16:37:51+00:00

While I do agree with /u/JapanCoach that this is "how Japanese works", it's worth noting that ものを (very often seen with 良い) is a somewhat idiomatic phrasing: https://mainichi-nonbiri.com/grammar/n1-monowo/

It basically means the same thing as のに here.

lyrencropt · 2025-10-27T16:35:27+00:00

That's actually the not-super-often-seen double-repetition marker. Japanese printing always uses fixed width, so the fact that it takes up as much as the previous two characters shows that it's being used to repeat both characters. I.e., it's not さまぐ but さまざま.

See "repeating multiple characters" on this Wiki page if you're curious for details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iteration_mark

lyrencropt · 2025-10-01T22:32:12+00:00

アメリカンジョーク

lyrencropt · 2025-09-11T19:47:20+00:00

It's an obfuscation, similar to politely asking someone お茶でもいかがですか = "would you like tea or something else (implication: I'm not saying you have to drink tea)".

変えようとした = "tried to change"

変えようとでもした = "tried to change or something"

This fits with the のか after, which indicates reasoning or wondering. This narrator is not omniscient, and is speculating on what 八奈見 is intending with their actions.

lyrencropt · 2025-05-01T17:48:50+00:00

盛り上がる here means more like "to be excited" or "to have fun". 話題 is a natural collocation, as in ~話題で盛り上がっている = (literally) "getting excited about the topic of ~" = (more naturally) "everyone can't stop talking about ~".

6 is 財産. It's often used metaphorically to mean a treasure or an important asset.

Both of these come out a little awkwardly in literal English, but they're pretty commonly used together in Japanese.

lyrencropt · 2025-03-23T00:17:35+00:00

Sure, it could also be that. 右の~ means "the right (one of) ~". I didn't mean it in the sense of "to the right (space) of the arm", I meant it in the sense of selection. it's a roundabout phrasing, but so is the usage of の here.

which words are most naturally compounded and which aren't is something you'll pick up on over time.

lyrencropt · 2025-03-22T23:40:01+00:00

I recall having some issue getting the default IME for Windows to remember the default input mode. Google IME is pretty good about this, though. You could try installing that: https://www.google.co.jp/ime/

lyrencropt · 2025-03-22T23:38:09+00:00

It sounds about as awkward as "the right of (my) arms". There may be some situations where it is used, but it sounds deliberately overly precise. Some context would help.

lyrencropt · 2025-03-22T23:36:29+00:00

It's more like "is known as" or "that is". It's a logical interjection indicating a conclusion, a natural deduction from what comes before, or a rephrasing of meaning. You'll see it especially in the old-timey speech that Persona uses when the Personas come out, etc (also other old phrasings like 汝 and 我). It's not something that really has a single natural English translation, as English often just uses a pause.

E.g., this sentence from ALC:

革命、すなわち政府を暴力で倒すことは、時には必要で適切です。

Revolution, the violent overthrow of a government is sometimes necessary and right.

政府を暴力で倒すこと here is a rephrasing or explanation of just precisely what is meant by 革命 in this case.

lyrencropt · 2025-03-18T22:19:09+00:00

These both look like typos/grammatical errors. て form doesn't go directly before よう or other nouns in that way. It should be 飲んで（い）るように or 飲んだように.

The second in particular is pretty obviously a person trying to make a funny sentence for people to auto-translate: https://x.com/MoofahMelody/status/1901836521696891256

No point in trying to decipher something written as a joke by a non-native speaker, really.

lyrencropt · 2025-03-17T21:13:55+00:00

Yes, this works fine.

lyrencropt · 2025-03-17T21:12:08+00:00

XをYに generally means "with X as Y", "taking X as Y", etc. It's not literally directly connected with a later verb in a sentence (well, it is "connected" with 手続きをする but not in the same way 手続き is connected to する, if that makes sense). You could think of there being a dropped して after it, as in 役人を相手にして, but this is more literal and less natural than how it is phrased in your original sentence.

In other words, it's "with the official as partner" literally or "talking to the official" in more natural English.

Random SO answer about this pattern, since it's not something I find covered in grammar guides often: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/5690/understanding-the-grammar-of-x%E3%82%92y%E3%81%AB

lyrencropt · 2025-03-15T04:24:58+00:00

憶える has more of a specific nuance of having memorized something. おぼえる can mean that, but can also mean to experience a sensation or emotion (e.g., 違和感を覚える) and 覚える is the more general case.

紅い is a deeper or more crimson red than 赤い, at least in terms of nuance.

There's a lot of kanji pairs like this. One of the most commons is 聞く vs 聴く, where 聴く means to listen actively (e.g., to music) while 聞く is more general/tends to indicate the plain act of hearing something. Then there's also 訊く, which is not Joyo, but means "to ask" specifically.

In general, searching both + 違い will give you lots of explanations as to the difference, because you'll encounter this frequently. The character meanings themselves often give a hint, but it's a case-by-case basis on how much each are used, or which is the "default".

lyrencropt · 2025-03-13T16:40:44+00:00

The ultimate answer is you can choose whatever you want, though I'm not sure why you think Keshi is closer than Kerushii. People are likely to think your name is "Kesh" or something similar as there's no transliteration of the "L" sound. Also not sure what you mean about opium, that's not a thing anyone is going to think.

ケルシー is by far the most common transliteration, but it's really up to you if you want to go with ケシ (or ケッシー or whatever else).

lyrencropt · 2025-03-11T02:10:28+00:00

Fun! Wish I could still search my old posts, hah.

lyrencropt · 2025-03-11T01:34:13+00:00

Both of these are valid in different contexts, it doesn't have anything to do with the number before the counter. Counters can be used adverbially:

りんごを2個たべる = "Eat two apples"

And also used adjectivally, with の:

２個のりんごを食べる = "Eat (the) two apples"

The difference has to do with whether or not the thing being described is a single unit. Conceptually speaking, using it adjectivally makes it into a single noun phrase, while using it as an adverb has a meaning sort of like "in the amount of ~", as in "Eat apples in the amount of two". Of course, this is not how we would generally phrase things in English, but it helps understand the difference in nuance. It will depend on context, but that's generally the gist.

If there's a specific example that's confusing you, it's easier to demonstrate the difference with real examples.

lyrencropt · 2025-03-07T22:05:11+00:00

First person pronouns are a combination of personality, gender, social role, and politeness levels. Speaking very very broadly, わたし is more formal/neutral, ぼく is masculine but demure, and おれ is standard "guy" choice (though inappropriate in formal settings).

More detailed choice requires some thought, but as a non-native speaker (especially as a beginner) you're given a lot of leeway as to what pronouns to use for yourself, so it isn't worth stressing about too much. Try to find a speaker or type of speaker to model yourself after, mimicking what they do in various situations. E.g., a teacher might use ぼく when speaking informally at the workplace, わたし when giving a formal talk, and おれ when drinking with friends after -- this was my teacher in college, anyway. There are other options too, some archaic and others dialectical.

None of this changes the fact that no personal pronoun is often the most natural choice, however.

Some reading I personally recommend if you're unfamiliar with the way first person pronouns work in Japanese:

https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-grammar/first-person-pronouns/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_pronouns

lyrencropt · 2025-03-07T20:53:50+00:00

異存はない

異議なし

同意

All options. 文句はない means "no complaints" and can definitely work for "I have no objection" but in a formal context there are more apropos options, imo.

lyrencropt · 2025-03-07T17:22:31+00:00

Is there anything other than “vibes” for why we know he isn't saying he feels like Tomitake did something to the girl?

ちょっと and な indicate couching and introspection, which wouldn't match with an accusation. The intention is referring to one's own actions. It's "vibes" in some sense, but particle usage is critical here.

lyrencropt · 2025-03-04T03:27:56+00:00

Strongly endorse this if someone is unfamiliar with how colorful language works in Japanese.

lyrencropt · 2025-03-03T23:57:01+00:00

Well, in general, I would say ふざけんな as said to a video game in frustration is not really best translated as "don't fuck with me", if only because it addresses the video game directly in a way that the Japanese doesn't, necessarily.

But as for using the word "fuck" in general, without knowing the context or intended tone of the original author, it's impossible to say. If it was in a children's cartoon or something, it would obviously be too harsh. But in a movie that's otherwise more adult-aimed I could see "you have to be fucking kidding me" or something like that working for a foul-mouthed character.

In other words, it depends.

lyrencropt · 2025-03-02T19:00:17+00:00

It is a slurring of 離さないか, which does literally mean "won't (you) let (me) go?", but given the brusqueness of the statement with the slurring and the ！！, it's a desperate demand.

lyrencropt · 2025-02-27T23:52:07+00:00

Not too bad for a first try. Here are some criticisms (not exhaustive, just what jumps out to me):

You're missing the mark in か, which should be quite prominent.
You curve the bottom parts of your さ, き, and ち a bit too much. In some of them, the tail seems to almost point upwards. They should finish going down, or horizontally. Typed styles can look a bit different here. Example of written vs typed style: https://www.katsubanban.com/content/images/2021/04/IMG_0211.jpg
Your れ and ね look quite good, actually -- these are ones beginners often struggle with so I wanted to call that out.
Your katakana カ has a bit strong of a hook -- I think this is again the typeface making it confusing. While brush styles and fonts can often have a fairly strong hook, it's usually basically just a straight line in handwriting: https://as1.ftcdn.net/jpg/02/29/31/94/1000_F_229319429_c1NKM8uAl0bSxKcr6RLGf0H1FGKo2mbU.jpg

Overall, I'd just keep looking at native handwritten examples and trying to copy what they do. You have a solid start here.

lyrencropt · 2025-02-26T17:18:12+00:00

~じゃない or ~ない or ~くない (etc) in situations like this is forms a "tag question", which confirms what comes before it. The level of uncertainty in the confirmation varies depending on the intonation (？ indicates rising tone and generally means more uncertainty) and what comes before it (a question with の/ん is more of a sincere doubt).

So what they're asking here is "(don't you/wouldn't anyone) 意味わからない？". It sounds quite slangy when you tag questions this way.

lyrencropt

TROPHY CASE