10 Not-so-Essential Japanese Phrases

jacksaidwhat · (#1 (**permalink**))

[post Removed]

KyleGoetz · (#2 (**permalink**))

I think you should leave "obi" as "obi" and not translate it to "sash." But that's just my preference for using "obi" even in English as a technical term for the sash that accompanies a kimono. Granted, "obi" can mean "sash," but since you're talking about someone in Japan, presumably the person is referring to an obi and not some other sash.

Also, you would never say 残念です。私は死んだ。 You have mixed two levels of formality/style (polite and plain).

girigiri · (#3 (**permalink**))

Ah now, you could translate "obi" as "cummerbund" I suppose - if you really did have to do away with obi for some reason.

Koko kara asoko no ki made hashirimashō – Let’s run to that tree over there.
Hmmm.... is there a reason for eliding "from here"?

kyo_9 · (#4 (**permalink**))

hah? wakarahen wa~

minminRW · (#5 (**permalink**))

Murasakai is NG, "purple" is Murasaki.
And "murasaki no aji" is NG, too.
Because "purple" is a kind of color, does not indicate taste.
Sometimes soy-sauce is called "murasaki". This word is spread from secret language among staffs of sushi-ya.(therefore this is used only in sushi-ya)
If you mean murasaki as this, you should translate as soy-sauce.

Columbine · (#6 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by minminRW

Because "purple" is a kind of color, does not indicate taste.

I don't know about soysauce and slang, but I think colour can be a taste. My school used to feed us pink custard and pink rice pudding. I've no idea what it was supposed to taste like, strawberry maybe, but to us it just tasted... pink. No other way to describe it. It tasted pink, and if something can taste pink, why not purple?

KyleGoetz · (#7 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by girigiri

Ah now, you could translate "obi" as "cummerbund" I suppose - if you really did have to do away with obi for some reason.

Koko kara asoko no ki made hashirimashō – Let’s run to that tree over there.
Hmmm.... is there a reason for eliding "from here"?

I don't think so. Cummerbund is specifically カマーバンド in Japanese. Plus, we're talking about someone in Japan. Keeping the word "obi" is probably best, because it's sort-of entered the English language (but not to the extent "kimono" has) and the fact that it's a person in Japan indicates it's probably not a sash in the Western sense.

Regardless, I think in this translation obi ~ sash >>>>> cummerbund.