I don't get tekito/u

[BowserJr]

Hey I've been reading about the word tekitou, and I'm hearing mixed opinions on it. If you look it up in Kanji, it means suitable or appropriate, right? But here:

『FFVII』ではテキトーなことも言うが、『BC』では目的� �をピタリと当てるなど、並々ならぬ腕前を見せる。

It's written in kana, but is spelled like tekito. If I look it up in a dictionary in kana like that, nothing ever comes up. I see a lot of sites saying tekitou means "nonsense" or "random" and I was wondering if the difference was whether or not it's written in kana or something. Or are tekitou and tekito two separate words? If not, how can you tell which definition to use if they're both opposites?

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by BowserJr

Hey I've been reading about the word tekitou, and I'm hearing mixed opinions on it. If you look it up in Kanji, it means suitable or appropriate, right? But here:

『FFVII』ではテキトーなことも言うが、『BC』では目的� �をピタリと当てるなど、並々ならぬ腕前を見せる。

It's written in kana, but is spelled like tekito. If I look it up in a dictionary in kana like that, nothing ever comes up. I see a lot of sites saying tekitou means "nonsense" or "random" and I was wondering if the difference was whether or not it's written in kana or something. Or are tekitou and tekito two separate words? If not, how can you tell which definition to use if they're both opposites?

Good question for all intermediate learners!

In that sentence the word means "nonsense", which is almost the opposite of what most dictionaries will give you as its first and most important meaning.

As you stated, we often use kana, more specifically katakana, to write words when we use them for their colloquial meanings so the readers would "visually and instantly" understand what meaning it is being used for.

If the writer neglects to make that distinction, the reader still has the context to go by. With that sentence above, the が would have been the key word if テキトー had been written as 適当.

[BowserJr]

As you stated, we often use kana, more specifically katakana, to write words when we use them for their colloquial meanings so the readers would "visually and instantly" understand what meaning it is being used for.

AHA! That's the difference

Thank you so much... uhm... so it's colloquial when written in katakana, right?... are other words like this?

Also... it's not that I don't believe you, cause I totally do, but do you have a source somewhere that says that? Like a website about learning Japanese or something? The reason I'm asking is because if I translate it like "nonsense," someone might try arguing with me that it should be suitable or fitting, and I'd like to be able to back myself up if needed. ^_^ Thanks.

Are you a native then?

[masaegu]

Source? Me!

[BowserJr]

*shrugs* works for me
Oh and ignore the native question XD I just saw your location.

Hey I hope you don't feel I was being rude. The FFVII community can be fickle when it comes to translations and people often argue about which translation is correct and I want to be ready if that happens. I can see it might have been kinda rude though so I'm really sorry >_<

BTW you said

If the writer neglects to make that distinction, the reader still has the context to go by. With that sentence above, the が would have been the key word if テキトー had been written as 適当.

How would this have effected the word BTW? I'm just curious.

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by BowserJr

*shrugs* works for me

BTW you said

How would this have effected the word BTW? I'm just curious.

You do know "が = but", right?

That sentence's basic structure is: XXXXXX but YYYYYY.

XXXX and YYYY MUST NOT mean the same or similar thing, right?

It's saying "The dude talks BS at Place A but he is really sharp at Place B."

You can't say "He is sharp at Place A but is sharp at Place B", can you?

This is why you would know the word in question would mean "BS" even if it had been written 適当 in kanji by a more careless writer. So that が plays a huge role.

Other examples:
舐める = to lick
ナメる = to take someone lightly

嵌まる = to get stuck
ハマる = to love something a lot

How the hell do I know these things? You would if you attended kindergarten thru university in Japan!!! Read my other posts and decide for yourself who to trsut.

[BowserJr]

You do know "が = but", right?

Yes but I was being stupid and not looking at the sentence when you said that and was thinking about the definition that it's defining the subject. Sorry
Yes you're right, that makes total sense then :P

So Basically, "The things he says in FFVII are nonsense, but in BC he displays extraordinary skill getting the destination exactly right."

Other examples:
舐める = to lick
ナメる = to take someone lightly

嵌まる = to get stuck
ハマる = to love something a lot

Nice, thanks.

How the hell do I know these things? You would if you attended kindergarten thru university in Japan!!! Read my other posts and decide for yourself who to trust.

Awesome. Yeah I believe you, and I never meant to imply otherwise. Actually this is pretty interesting. I didn't know until I found this that words could take on a certain meaning depending on if they're written in katakana. I thought katakana was mostly for spelling foreign words.

I was told once that words can change meaning if written in kanji vs hiragana. Is that true too? They told me "koibito" could mean something like "person who loves" when written in kanji but I heard others say that's not true.

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by BowserJr

I was told once that words can change meaning if written in kanji vs hiragana. Is that true too? They told me "koibito" could mean something like "person who loves" when written in kanji but I heard others say that's not true.

Who told you that?

Kanji words can change meanings when written in katakana as we discussed above but I cannot think off the top of my head of an example of kanji vs. hiragana. That is unless someone chooses to use hiragana instead of katakana to use a word for its colloquial meaning, which is not too rare.

And 恋人 doesn't change its meaning no matter how you write it for your own aesthetic reasons. Kids who have not learned the kanji will write it こいびと but not many people, young or old, would write it in katakana.

[BowserJr]

Who told you that?

Someone who, in this case, really wanted to disprove that "koibito" meant "lover/sweetheart"

Anyway yeah thanks, I didn't think it was right but figured now would be the time to ask. You've been most helpful so thanks.

[masaegu]

Man, you made me work hard on a Friday evening!

恋人 actually means BF or GF rather than a lover. "Sweetheart" is a good translation.

What I still don't understand even as a Japanese-speaker is the true meaning of this cookie's name　「白い恋人」.

http://img.blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ybi/1/5...6_2?1187790931

Every tourist to Hokkaido buys these for a souvenir and so do I whenever I go there.