Japanese Help Questions/Translations

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by delacroix01

Hello! I have one quick question for today.

彼女はビックリ箱みたいな人だ。
Does ビックリ箱みたいな人 mean "a surprisingly secretive person"?

That is not a common phrase by any standards. It would mean a person who appears to be quite normal and/or ordinary on the outside but once you get to know him/her, you will find surprising or extraordinary qualities about him/her.

[delacroix01]

Oh, this is unexpected. Thanks again masaegu. I'll think of another way to interpret the sentence.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by masaegu

In my lexicon (if attending kindergarten thru university and working over 20 years in Japan is enough to form my own lexicon to use on JF), です/ます isn't even polite. I've stated this many times on JF and so have a few other extremely knowledgeable older native speakers here. です/ます is just average on the politeness scale, period. I shall never accomodate myself to how they may teach Japanese outside of Japan. If です/ます were polite, how would one even categorize ございます/いたします, etc?

I've always seen ます form referred to in Japanese as 丁寧語. That is, I believe, why we call it "polite form" in English.

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

I've always seen ます form referred to in Japanese as 丁寧語. That is, I believe, why we call it "polite form" in English.

Any reason to quote something I said 4 months ago?

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by masaegu

Any reason to quote something I said 4 months ago?

Sorry. That always happens in this thread. I open all the threads with new comments in separate tabs first, then just read them and respond as I come to posts without looking at the dates. Usually I catch myself with the "Japanese Help Questions/Translations" thread, but I didn't this time. Whoops!

[StonerPenguin]

LOL @ Kyle I have to resist the urge to bring up long dead threads and things all the time too ;p

Thanks masaegu for the help (sorry for the late 'thanks')

I just need help with one sentence for now;
「お前みてぇな甘えたガキが興味本位でそう言ってくん のが一番腹立つんだよ」
I've never seen "興味本位で" before but I'm inclined to think it means "just out of curiosity". So... "Spoiled brats like you saying things like that just out of curiosity tick me off the most"? I don't feel I've quite got the meaning :/

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by StonerPenguin

I just need help with one sentence for now;
「お前みてぇな甘えたガキが興味本位でそう言ってくん のが一番腹立つんだよ」
I've never seen "興味本位で" before but I'm inclined to think it means "just out of curiosity". So... "Spoiled brats like you saying things like that just out of curiosity tick me off the most"? I don't feel I've quite got the meaning :/

I believe you are correct.

And rikaichan's very first entry for 興味本位 is "(just) out of curiosity."

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by StonerPenguin

I just need help with one sentence for now;
「お前みてぇな甘えたガキが興味本位でそう言ってくん のが一番腹立つんだよ」
I've never seen "興味本位で" before but I'm inclined to think it means "just out of curiosity". So... "Spoiled brats like you saying things like that just out of curiosity tick me off the most"? I don't feel I've quite got the meaning :/

More like "just for fun" or "just for entertainment" if you want to express the nuance of the word. I say this because in your culture, you don't seem to mind if people say things just out of cuoriosity but over here, we do mind if people 興味本位で say things just as the speaker of this sentence does. It even makes you maddest.

You didn't translate the くん part though it is not all that important.

[StonerPenguin]

Originally Posted by masaegu

More like "just for fun" or "just for entertainment" if you want to express the nuance of the word. I say this because in your culture, you don't seem to mind if people say things just out of curiosity but over here, we do mind if people 興味本位で say things just as the speaker of this sentence does. It even makes you maddest.

You didn't translate the くん part though it is not all that important.

Ah, thanks a ton. You're right about the difference in culture, very interesting. Also, I didn't really know what to do with the くん part. I assume くん = くる though 「～てくる」 has always confused me...

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by StonerPenguin

Also, I didn't really know what to do with the くん part. I assume くん = くる though 「～てくる」 has always confused me...

Right, it's always the simplest words that are difficult to deal with. The nuance here is "little brats like you keep coming to tell me ~~".