Quote:
Originally Posted by Columbine
Here's how I've seen/heard them dealt with. Generally, there's not one single word.
なつかしい- nostalgic. Only difference is that english speakers don't go "ah, nostalgic," when they hear something なつかしい in quite the same way that Japanese speakers do.
うまみ- savory. This seems to make more sense to some American English speakers, as British English speakers use 'savory' as a general taste term more frequently.
がんばりましょ- Do your best. We just don't really use it quite as often, or for such varied situations as it is in Japanese.
めんどくさい- *laughs* If I had to condense it to one word, it'd probably be 'arse'. As in めんどくさいな "I can't be arsed." But then if the situation is that something is being troublesome (仕事はめんどくさいよ) you're more likely to say "a pain in the arse". So there is a differentiation.
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So there are English words for each, yet they aren't really used in the same way in English. Specially the last two. Can you imagine telling an American, "Try your best". It's almost an insult. The guy would ask, "What did you think I was going to do? Do a half ass job?!". We Japanese use mendou kusai so much I wonder if we aren't the lazy ones at heart
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