Monday, June 27, 2011

Running Bodyparts...

Once again, an amusing Kanji usage, can't get enough of those!
This time, a verb.

Japanese: 口走る
Reading: kuchibashiru
Meaning: to speak; to tell; to blurt out
Literally: mouth + running

In English, our noses can run as well!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Barbeque Fun!

This is one of the more amusing Kanjis I've learnt.
As opposed to most Kanji, this one looks pretty much what it means!

Kanji: 
Meaning: skewer

Do you see the skewer in the Kanji?

Now another interesting one is this Kanji, which has the skewer Kanji as the top part of it.

Kanji:
Meaning: afflicted, disease, suffer from, be ill
Construction: skewer (串)+heart (心)

"Doctor, I am suffering..."
"What's wrong?"
"Barbeque accident..."

:P

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Flintstone Type Faucet

This Kanji usage reminded me of The Flintstones! (Thanks Herouth)

Japanese: 蛇口
Reading: jaguchi
Meaning: faucet, tap
Literally: snake + mouth

If The Flintstones was in Japanese, their faucet would have been "elephant + nose", though, right?
Anyway, amusing Kanji use for this word :)
Me Like!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Racism in Kitchenware

So finally, I stumbled onto a new nice expression (as opposed to just a word) and this time...I didn't even know the English idiom!

So, here we go:

Japanese: 目くそ鼻くそを笑う
Reading: mekuso hanakuso wo warau
Meaning: translates to the English idiom "the pot calling the kettle black", or plainly "look who's talking!"
Literally: for the sleep in one's eyes to laugh at the snot in one's nose

Nothing more really to say about it...

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Bear, Humans and their Hands

Two nice words.

Japanese: 熊手
Reading: kumade
Literally: bear-hand
Meaning: rake; fork

And another one:

Japanese: 人手
Reading: hitode
Literally: man-hand
Meaning: starfish

I thought it's cool that a bear hand is a rake and a human hand is a starfish :)
Me Like!

Monday, June 13, 2011

The Child to be Born

So how would you call the child that is about to be born but hasn't yet?

Japanese: お腹の子
Reasing: onaka-no ko
Meaning: the child one is expecting
Literally: stomach child

As in, the kid who is still in my stomach.
At some point those really logical literal words would stop amusing me...

Friday, June 10, 2011

Surprise Box

I just found this word in the Dictionary, I have no doubt I won't forget it quickly just because of the amusing context.

Japanese: びっくり箱
Reading: bikkuribako
Literally: surprising box; frightening box

Can you guess what does it mean?
Here you go:

Meaning: Jack-in-the-box

In case you don't know, a jack-in-the-box is a children's toy that outwardly consists of a box with a crank. When the crank is turned, it plays a melody. At the end of the tune there is a "surprise", the lid pops open and a figure, usually a clown or jester, pops out of the box.

Yet again, Japanese names for things are pretty much exactly what they are :)
Me Like!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Tinnitus

Don't you hate when you get Tinnitus?
I've experienced Tinnitus a few times, luckily not for long, and I think that that is the only reason I even know what Tinnitus is. I have no idea about native English speakers but I don't think many non-native English speakers have any idea what Tinnitus is.
So today, a Japanese word and an English word for the same price :P

Japanese: 耳鳴り
Reading: miminari
Meaning: tinnitus
Literally: ear + ringing

That's right. Tinnitus is that annoying ringing sound you sometimes start to hear in your ear out of nowhere. I don't know if Japanese has a more medical term for it, but it doesn't stop me from getting amused by thinking of the doctor talking to the nurse and saying "Yes, I examined the patient and my educated diagnosis is that he suffers from ear-ringing-ness." :P

Me like!

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Two Generations in One Dish

There is a dish in Japanese cuisine which is basically a bowl of rice with some chicken and egg on top. The name of the dish is amusing!
(Thanks Randy for the suggestion)

Japanese: 親子丼
Reading: oyakodon
Meaning: chicken and egg on rice
Literally: parent + child + bowl (of rice)

Today, I'm eating two generations in one bowl!
Seems kinda wrong...

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Meaning of Vase

Here's another nice Kanji meaning for a word.

Japanese: 花瓶
Reading: kabin
Meaning: (flower) vase
Kanji: flower + bottle

The image I get is a single flower protruding out of an empty wine bottle...
Definitely not a fancy vase but serves the same function :)
So yeah, put on the bag for your hand (glove), take the flower and put it in this bottle for the flower (vase). We don't need to make a fancy vase from sticky earth (clay)...