他のスレッドで見つけた英語表現について質問するスレッド [Archive] - Page 2

Kyoko_desu

Oct 20, 2006, 05:52

Q: What's the similarity between Budweiser and sex on the beach?
A: It's both f@ckin' close to water.
Budweiser is f@ckin' close to water because it tastes very watery; the taste is very close to that of water.
Sex on the beach is close to water, because, well.. You f@ck so close to the sea.

Aaaah! It's from a joke. Hahahaha! (Too late っちゅうの！) :lol:
(Grrr,I was thinking damn too seriously, wasn't I?)

Well, leon-san, it was a good one, arigatou ne! After reading your post saying none of my answers were right, I tried to find what else I could associate having sex on the beach with, and what came up my mind was "getting bacteria into your you-know-what", "having an audience", and "getting caught", but never "being close to water". 残念だ～！:sick:

Originally Posted by ricecake
I've had sex on the beach a couple timesThe first moment I saw this sentence (and I really didn't get what you meant by the sentence in brackets then)I was like OMG! ricecake-san isn't shy at all! She's so wild! But after reading your whole message over, I finally got you meant the cucktail there and I felt kinda relieved, hehehe.:relief:

Kyoko_desu

Oct 20, 2006, 06:22

thread title
Do gaijin look good in a "Kimono"?
(http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18967)
My question for today is one of the poll options which says

I'd really like to see a sheep in a "Kimono".

A sheep is a farm animal you keep for wool or a timid/obedience person, isn't it? Does the word maybe refer to somehting else in a slang use?

I would really want to know what 7 members of this forum would like to see in a kimono. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

leonmarino

Oct 20, 2006, 17:01

Hm. I think it can be translated like this:

I'd really like to see a sheep in a "Kimono" = I think everything/everyone looks good in a kimono, even a sheep

Maybe the OP chose the word sheep to denote "anything", because sheep are so common in many parts of England.

But then again I'm not sure. :p

あばよー！

Glenn

Oct 20, 2006, 22:16

I took it more as just not caring about who wears a kimono, or how they look in one.

Kyoko_desu

Oct 22, 2006, 04:55

Arigatou gozaimashita, leon-san and Glenn-san.:-)

So the phrase "see a sheep in something" isn't an idiom but rather Jack-san's original expression? And it leaves something you (even native English speakers) to guess, doesn't it?

ちょっとあいまいで、人によっては違った受け取り方をするかもしれない表現だと考えていいでしょうか？

leonmarino

Oct 22, 2006, 07:10

ちょっとあいまいで、人によっては違った受け取り方をするかもしれない表現だと考えていいでしょうか？んだ！どうにしろＯＰさんは羊さんの事をあんまし良く思ってないのが伝わりますね～。（笑）

Dutch Baka

Oct 22, 2006, 13:17

bit off topic.

Good to see you being so active in learning English!!! I wish I had the time, feeling to be that eager in learning Japanese! you got my respect.

Keep up the good work :wave::wave:

ricecake

Oct 23, 2006, 00:54

So the phrase "see a sheep in something" isn't an idiom but rather Jack-san's original expression? And it leaves something you (even native English speakers) to guess, doesn't it?

Although North Americans and Europeans may share heritage and many cultural commonalities,they don't always grasp one's local expression or joke unless it's universal.

Glenn

Oct 24, 2006, 17:56

ちょっとあいまいで、人によっては違った受け取り方をするかもしれない表現だと考えていいでしょうか？

私もそう思いますよ。

dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

Mikawa Ossan

Oct 24, 2006, 18:36

I think the sheep choice was probably just a joke, given the choice immediately preceding it!

Kyoko_desu

Oct 25, 2006, 04:18

leonmarino-san, ricecake-san, Glenn-san, and Mikawa Ossan, thanks for the replies.:-)
Then I'm not going to memorize or try to use this expression, because I don't think they would expect a non-native English speaker to use such kind of expression or a joke and they would only be confused if I said it.

Now Dutch Baka-san, thanks for the kind words. I saw your post saying you'd decided to study Japanese seriously. You too, keep up the good work, and remember that we are always here to help you. Ganbarou ne~~~:dance:

Kyoko_desu

Oct 25, 2006, 04:39

thread title
One Year and Counting (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26322&page=3)

Post #47.48.49.50

Glenn-san : Glad you're back! It's always nice having another expert around the Learning Japanese forums!
Mikawa Ossan : I like the way that sounds....Wile E. Coyote, SUPER Genius! (Thanks, Glenn!)
J44xm-san : Yeah, the suffering that I inflict on everyone in there should be spread around and diluted as much as possible.
Glenn-san : You're really killing me today, J44xm! Hahahaha!

I did a search on Wile E. Coyote and found out that he is a cartoon character but really couldn't figure out what kind of character it represents. Is he genius and an expert of anything? The next comment which was posted by J44xm-san confuses me even more.

What on earth were they talking about and what was so funny about? I have no clue, sob sob.. So please explain and let me join the laugh.

ricecake

Oct 25, 2006, 07:55

J44xm meant he burdens ( inflict,as he put it ) undrentide,Elizabeth,epigene,plus a few others with Japanese language questions in Nihongo forum,Now with Mikawa back,he can ease ( spread around and diluted ) the question-load BY answering some of J44xm's posts there.

I am not familiar with Wile E. Coyote cartoon character,I take his remark as either self-praising or humor sarcasm.

Supervin

Oct 25, 2006, 08:53

I did a search on Wile E. Coyote and found out that he is a cartoon character but really couldn't figure out what kind of character it represents. Is he genius and an expert of anything?
Basically, Wile E Coyote is a character from an old but classic cartoon called Looney Tunes. He's a coyote who keeps trying to chase and kill another character called Road Runner. He comes up with all these different kinds of weird traps and methods in order to capture Road Runner, but he fails to do so every time, ending up inflicting so much pain on himself (he normally falls into his own traps, e.g. off a cliff, getting blown up, sawed in half, etc).

Well normally people would call the coyote an idiot, because he always gets screwed, but you can say that he's a genius for inventing so many new traps every time. He's an expert of stupidity, inventing traps, falling into his own traps and inflicting massive pain on himself.

Mikawa Ossan

Oct 25, 2006, 11:46

Supervin is right, and eloquently desribed the character of Wile E. Coyote. What he failed to mention, however, is that in most of these cartoons, neither Mr. Coyote nor his nemesis, the Road Runner, speak a word during the entire duration of the cartoon. Sometimes Wile E. Coyote will pull out a sign out of nowhere with something written on it, but he never speaks himself.

BUT!

There was at least one cartoon in which our wily friend does have a voice. In this classic cartoon, Wile E. begins by handing the Road Runner his business card and saying, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wile E. Coyote, super genius." He then outlines, very politely, how he will be the end of the Road Runner.

He then proceeds to follow the same pattern as in other cartoons where he fiendishly hatches new and (not so) complicated plots to capture or kill the Road Runner only to fall prey to his own devices.

The climax of this cartoon is Mr. Coyote making explosive carrots for the Road Runner to eat and then blow up. During this time, his cottage in which he is making these carrots is being moved over some railroad tracks. With ever increasing volume and intensity, Mr. Coyote congratulates himself for his diabolical plot.

"Wile E. Coyote, super genius. I like the way that sounds, Wile E. Coyote, SUPER GENIUS!" Eventually he hears the train coming, but it's too late. The train smacks into his cabin, bringing the episode to a firey climax.

It's one of my favorite quotations of all time. To me, it is a great way of making a joke when I do something a little clever or when someone compliments me, because it's filled with such irony. Congratulating oneself for a job well done when one's own undoing is just around the corner.

Jx44's comment wasn't a response to me at all, but rather a response to Glenn, and it just took off from there. Jx44 had made some other self-depricating remarks somewhere else, so Glenn was indirectly referring to that when he responded to Jx44.

Supervin

Oct 26, 2006, 00:38

I think I missed the episode where the coyote actually says something, but then again I might have forgotten since I watched it when I was about four.

Haha... you seem to be an expert on Wile E Coyote. My favorite character was Bugs Bunny back then.

epigene

Oct 26, 2006, 12:32

Just a side note on cartoon character names:

Cartoon character names are very often coined to express the character's image, just as in Japanese manga and animation. "Wile E. Coyote" is "play on words" on "wily coyote."

Other funny names I remember from books and games are:
Oliver Clothesoff ("all of your clothes off')
Ken Hartley Reed ("can hardly read")
Justin Case ("just in case")
The last two were henchmen of the Carmen Sandiego gang, from an edutainment game that my kids used to play on the Mac long time ago... (Natsukashii~na~!)
:wave:

leonmarino

Oct 26, 2006, 15:38

Reminds me of some typically American jokes, from the Simpsons for example:

Moe, working in a bar, picks up the phone: Hello
Bart, on the phone: Hi, I'm looking for Seymore, last name is Butts.
Moe: Hold on, I'll ask.. Is there a Seymore in here? Seymore Butts!? I wanna Seymore Butts!!

The joke is ofcourse: Seymore Butts = See more butts.

Or this other, rather lame, joke:

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Colleen.
Colleen who?
Colleen up your room, it's a mess!!

The last sentence is pronounced ofcourse as "clean up your room". :blush:

epigene

Oct 26, 2006, 16:04

Reminds me of some typically American jokes, from the Simpsons for example:
Moe, working in a bar, picks up the phone: Hello
Bart, on the phone: Hi, I'm looking for Seymore, last name is Butts.
Moe: Hold on, I'll ask.. Is there a Seymore in here? Seymore Butts!? I wanna Seymore Butts!!
The joke is ofcourse: Seymore Butts = See more butts.
Or this other, rather lame, joke:
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Colleen.
Colleen who?
Colleen up your room, it's a mess!!
The last sentence is pronounced ofcourse as "clean up your room". :blush:
Yes! I loved the Simpsons, too! :cool:

And, there were a lot of those "knock, knock" jokes I heard from kids... :blush:

Kyoko_desu

Oct 27, 2006, 05:59

Originally Posted by ricecake
J44xm meant he burdens ( inflict,as he put it ) undrentide, Elizabeth, epigene, plus a few others with Japanese language questions in Nihongo forumDaaaarng! That's exactly what I'm doing to you, nice gaijin-san, and everyone else here!:shock: Yeah I'm really glad the suffering will be now spread around a bit since Glenn-san and Mikawa Ossan are back, hehehehe.

Thank you so much for the information about Wile E. Coyote, Supervin-san and Mikawa Ossan. Supervin-san, your flag says you are now in Hong Kong, but you saw the cartoon while you were in the US? Hehe, 4 year old Supervin-san really enjoyed Bugs Bunny back then. *imagines*

By the way, the character kind of reminded me of BaikinMan（バイキンマン）from a Japanese anime called AnpanMan（アンパンマン）.
http://image.depart.livedoor.com/upload/image01/3/7/2158137-1.jpg
The evil looking one on the right top corner is BaikinMan. Maybe you know of the anime, don't you, Ossan? He really is smart and invents lots of stuff but always ends up getting an anpunch（アンパンチ）　by the hero.

Originally Posted by epigene
Other funny names I remember from books and games are:
Oliver Clothesoff ("all of your clothes off')
Ken Hartley Reed ("can hardly read")
Justin Case ("just in case")Hahaha! They are funny, really! Just like the Japanese name 佐藤敏男(Satou Toshio) = 砂糖と塩　(sugar and salt)! I remember some funny names my bad American friends taught me.
Carrie Oakey
Master Bates
Mike OcksmallSorry, if I offended anyone though.:blush:

leonmarino-san, I love the knock knock jokes you posted! And I'm glad that I could get them cuz it's usually hard for me to get jokes written in English. Banzai!

Glenn

Oct 27, 2006, 18:43

Yeah I'm really glad the suffering will be now spread around a bit since Glenn-san and Mikawa Ossan are back, hehehehe.

I wasn't actually counting myself in there, though. :blush:

Hahaha! They are funny, really! Just like the Japanese name 佐藤敏男(Satou Toshio) = 砂糖と塩　(sugar and salt)!

Reminds me of an example in our textbook.

選挙の街頭演説
候補者「皆さん、参議院選挙は、横瀬！横瀬兼男（よこせかねお）をよろしくお願いいたします！！！」
住民「『横瀬兼男』だなんて、名前からして、賄賂（わいろ）を要求しそうだなあ。」

The joke is that よこせ・かねお sounds just like 寄越せ！金を！ ("Give me your money!"). I'm glad I have teachers with a sense of humor.

leonmarino

Oct 27, 2006, 20:56

The joke is that よこせ・かねお sounds just like 寄越せ！金を！ ("Give me your money!"). I'm glad I have teachers with a sense of humor.Hahaha, I once read a manga about a female television announcer called Hanano （花野）, referred to as 花野アナ. :D
（花野アナ＝はなのあな＝鼻の穴＝Nostril)

retrodisease

Oct 28, 2006, 07:54

gosh...i am terrible with jokes. if i make them then i am the only that laughs, like an idiot of course. hahaha
i just have a dry sense of humour that's all. hmmmm can i think of any jokes?
crap... umm i had a really good one but i have the memory of a gold fish (like 15 seconds, yeah crappy)
:okashii:

osistlk

Oct 28, 2006, 08:01

Gold fishes have an average memory of 3 minutes, or so I have been told...

Mycernius

Oct 28, 2006, 21:14

Goldfish can be trained to follow a simple maze. It is a myth that they have a short memory.

retrodisease

Oct 29, 2006, 04:18

crap, i guess i lose this one then:p well then i guess i will have to take responsibilty for my rediculously short memory. but then i could just be takeing way to serioulsy.
guppi maybe?

osistlk

Oct 29, 2006, 06:02

Well damn... just like mice...

Kyoko_desu

Nov 3, 2006, 22:23

Hello! I'm here again to inflict the suffering to my sensei-tachi.:biggrin:
では、新しい質問がありますので、また、よろしくお願いします。

thread title
Do you feel safe in Japan? (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25530&page=2)
Post #38

There were some there that would slot me for the tennies on my feet.

In my understanding, what the sentence means is:
The area around the greyhound bus station in New Oreleans, which was just eight block away from where Revenant-san was talking to a taxi cab driver, there were some people, very early in the morning, who would do something to him for the tennis shoes he was wearing on his feet.

From the context, at first I thought "slot" there probably means to "steal", "attack" or something like that. However none of my dictionaries has such definitions and they just say the verb "slot" means:

1)細長い穴を作る/細長い穴に入れる (hosonagai ana wo tsukuru/hosonagai ana ni ireru)
２）時間枠に組み入れる(jikanwaku ni kumi ireru)
.....But neither (1) nor (2) seems to work in that context...

So I decided to check the slang dictionary I have bookmarked and it says it's "to drink something quickly" or "to bang/f*ck/shack". But he didn't mention any drink there, there shouldn't be any door to close with a loud sound there, and Revenant-san is a man and no one generally would f*ck or rape him on the street, right?

So now I'm totally lost. Does anyone know what Revenant-san meant by "slot someone for the tennies on his feet"?:clueless:

Mikawa Ossan

Nov 3, 2006, 22:35

I've never heard of that expression either, but I think your analysis is pretty much dead-on. I think it means that there there were people there who would do bodily harm to him merely for the shoes he was wearing. In other words, there were people there who would hurt him for no good reason at all because they were just such bad people.

Kyoko_desu

Nov 3, 2006, 23:15

Phew! I've just found out what the word "dead-on" means, phew! It means 「そのとおり」, right? *relieved!*:relief:
Before checking my dictionary, the first part of the word scared me cus it's dead. dead なんていう　怖い響きのある言葉からはじまる言葉だから、「そのとおり」の正反対の「大バカまちがい」みたいな意味かも知れないと思ってびびりました。（笑）

ところで、Revenantさんのプロフをたった今見てみたんだけど、もともとはカナダの人って書いてありました。　だから、今回のslotの使い方は、もしかしたらカナダ特有の英語かもしれませんね。
I

nice gaijin

Nov 4, 2006, 11:01

Just reading the sentence, I figured he meant that there were people who looked like they were the type to stab someone for their shoes.

I haven't heard this expression before, but I'm assuming that slot means to stab (ie to make a slot in you with a knife). It almost sounds like prison lingo (like shank, etc)

MrWabu

Nov 5, 2006, 00:42

Maybe its a typo for "shoot"?

osistlk

Nov 5, 2006, 02:35

I going with a synonym for shank on this one...

Kyoko_desu

Nov 5, 2006, 05:09

I see, so it probably means some bodily harm, but not punching or kicking but shanking or stabbing, which will make a slot in your body with a knife.

However, since MrWabu-san, who is from the UK, even suspects that it might be a typo and people from the US say it's not commonly used, it could be a prison lingo or Canadian English, right?

I browsed some prisoner's dictionaries, geez, if you talked to me all with prison lingo, I would have absolutely no clue what you are saying, but I hope I won't end up in prison, especially outside Japan.:relief:

Arigatou gozaimashita, Mikawa Ossan, nice gaijin-san, MrWabu-san, and osistlk-san.:wave:

Glenn

Nov 5, 2006, 12:26

Wow, you went to prison dictionaries?! You're really dedicated! And don't worry, if we were talked to in only prison terms we probably wouldn't know what was going on either!

By the way, in this case I think asking Revenant would be the best way to find out what he really meant, as this could even be highly localized usage (i.e., only in a certain part of Canada).

Kyoko_desu

Nov 7, 2006, 05:42

And don't worry, if we were talked to in only prison terms we probably wouldn't know what was going on either!

Really? I don't know if they have any particular lingo in Japanese prisons or yakuza world that normal people won't be able to understand, but they propbably do. I hope I won't need to learn it!

Now I have another question, 今日もよろしくお願いします。

thread title
Catching up (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27373&page=2)

Post #24

OK, someone get me a Japanese bucket, please.

Supervin-san said it after epigene-san's post saying she was glad Mike Cash-san was back. And after this comment of him, she said she was sorry if she was a Mike Cash fan. So I'm assuming this sentence somehow means he was not happy about epigene-san's first comment.

But why he needed a bucket? And what did he mean by a Japanese bucket?

Does anyone know?

ricecake

Nov 7, 2006, 07:10

So I'm assuming this sentence somehow means he was not happy about epigene-san's first comment.

Hmmm .... Don't read too much into it,Supervin did welcomed Mike Cash back despite earlier squabble on another thread.

ricecake

Nov 7, 2006, 08:48

OK, someone get me a Japanese bucket, please.

Supervin-san said it after epigene-san's post saying she was glad Mike Cash-san was back.

I've just PM'ed you the answer,there is a proper phrase ( idiom ) for his comment.

MrWabu

Nov 7, 2006, 09:58

Well I don't know what ricecake put in the PM... so who knows, maybe I have a different answer...

It seems that epigene's comment is *too* nice towards Mike Cash and includes the little rose icon, Supervin has become sick at the thought (that someone could like Mike Cash that much?), and wants to throw up. A bucket is a typical object to be sick into when you can't get to a toilet... And I guess because it is a Japanese forum, it's only appropriate he use a Japanese bucket.

"Fetch me a bucket" is a fairly common phrase used in these sorts of cases when something creeps you out, usually when you observe an action that's *too* "lovey-dovey".

Kyoko_desu

Nov 7, 2006, 12:48

It seems that epigene's comment is *too* nice towards Mike Cash and includes the little rose icon, Supervin has become sick at the thought (that someone could like Mike Cash that much?), and wants to throw up. A bucket is a typical object to be sick into when you can't get to a toilet... And I guess because it is a Japanese forum, it's only appropriate he use a Japanese bucket.

"Fetch me a bucket" is a fairly common phrase used in these sorts of cases when something creeps you out, usually when you observe an action that's *too* "lovey-dovey".

Oh I understand, so the word "bucket" was associated with "feeling sick/feeling like vomitting". I hope I won't have much chance to use this phrase then.

Thank you very much, MrWabu-san! And ricecake-san, I also would like to thank you for your explanation through the PM. Sensei, arigatou gozaimashita! :wave:

Kyoko_desu

Nov 8, 2006, 13:10

thread title
Japanese and dislexia (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27390)

Post #4

My English has always been medicore, C's and D's all through junior high and highschool and im still learning Japanese.

From the way Thunderthief-san was talking, I could tell C and D are not very good grades on a record card in the US.

In Japan, 5 is usually the best grade point we get, then follows 4, then 3, 2, and the worst is 1 in our report cards, so the average is 3. For example, we say:
「すごいよ、明くんは！またオール５　をとったらしい。」「うわぁ！頭がいいんだね！」
"Sugoi yo, Akira-kun ha! Mata ooru go wo totta rashii." "Uwaa! Atama ga iin da ne!"
(Akira-kun is hilarious. I heard he's got straight 5 again." "Wow, he is so smart, isn't he?")

Some elementary schools uses ○　for average, △　for worse than an average, and ◎ for better than it. And yeah, some high schools grade the students from 1 to 10 and 10 is the best. It all depends on the school, I guess.

I found this expression "straight A" in a dictionary, so in the US, A is the best score you get in your report card? And what is the worst? And what about other countries? How do they rank or grade the students' academic achievements in your country?

Yoroshiku onegaishimas.

ricecake

Nov 8, 2006, 13:25

American school grading system ranges A to F,A for excellent with F for failing and C for average.

One school I've attended as a kid in the state of Kansas ( Mid-West ) many years ago,the district had E instead of A for excellent ( highest ) grade.

Straight A's honorably give someone a 4.00 GPA ( grade point average = highest score ),that person has much greater access to Ivy League universities in America.

Mikawa Ossan

Nov 8, 2006, 13:36

In some schools in Japan they employ a three point system for certain things like perhaps homework. I don't know how uniformly this is across schools or even within the same one, but under this system, one can receive an A, B, or C. A is exemplary, B is average, and C is failing.

In America, there is a phenomena known as "grade inflating". What this means is that people tend to get better grades than they technically "should". In America, the grading system is as follows:

A: Exemplary
B: Above Average
C: Average
D: Below Average
F: Failing

So an American A is the same as a Japanese A, an American C is the same as a Japanese B, and an American F is the same as a Japanese C. (Yes, I am simplifying a bit.)

Here's the thing: even though "Average" quite literally means that the great majority of people should wind up with that corresponding grade in theory, in practice, the most commonly given grade is probably a B in America. (Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone, I haven't been a student in the public school system in America for quite some time.)

What that means is that a C in America in practice means "below average" and has a negative connotation associated with it, even though it is a perfectly respectable grade in theory. A D has an even greater negative connotation associated with it, as you can imagine.

Kyoko_desu

Nov 9, 2006, 22:59

Thank you, ricecake-san and Mikawa Ossan for the input.:cool:

At first I thought it kinda weird to skip E, but now I understand it's usually A from D plus Failing, and sometimes E for excellent, above A. A bit more complicated than Japanese system, because A, B, C, and D are merely alphabets but E and F are initials of a word.

ricecake

Nov 10, 2006, 03:01

and sometimes E for excellent, above A.

E for excellent ( best ) grade is an " equivalence " to A aforementioned,not above it.This McKinley School I attended in Kansas,teachers there either marked E or spelled out the word excellent ( never used the alpha A ) for best grade on our report cards and graded school assignments.I can't tell you whether this practice was limited to our city school district or it was implemented statewide.

Kyoko_desu

Nov 10, 2006, 04:07

E for excellent ( best ) grade is an " equivalence " to A aforementioned,not above it.This McKinley School I attended in Kansas,teachers there either marked E or spelled out the word excellent ( never used the alpha A ) for best grade on our report cards and graded school assignments.
Oh I see, and thanks for the correction, ricecake-san.:-)
Hey! I bet you received lots of E's at school! When I saw your photo, I thought you looked soooo intelligent and, of course, cute too!

osistlk

Nov 10, 2006, 07:30

Grading scales tend to differ mainly by county... I live in Fairfax County, Virginia and our grading scale for an A is 94-100% versus all the surrounding counties' 90-100% for an A... All other grades are also respectively higher then the other counties...

Just in case your getting the idea that all schools use roughly the same system...

Kyoko_desu

Nov 10, 2006, 12:40

Glenn

Nov 11, 2006, 11:26

At my high school it was 94%-100% was an "A," but another school in the same parish had an "A" as 96%-100%. Then I got to college and everything was graded in tens.

Thunderthief

Nov 11, 2006, 13:34

90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C
60-69 D
59 or below F (Failure)

thats how it works here

of course some schools have special programs for mentally handicapped or learning disabled that lower passing to 45-55

ricecake

Nov 11, 2006, 13:39

90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C
60-69 D
59 or below F (Failure)

At Bingham ? School I attended as a kid for one year in the state of Missouri many years ago,had this grading system as well.

osistlk

Nov 12, 2006, 00:17

Colleges compare your scores mainly with scores inside your county so in the end everything evens out. It's not really unfair...

Kyoko_desu

Nov 12, 2006, 04:49

I see! Thanks everyone!:wave:

Oh? Is ricecake-san banned again???????
:o

leonmarino

Nov 12, 2006, 09:58

Oh? Is ricecake-san banned again???????
:oそうらしいですね・・俺もう分かんねぇよ。:okashii :

Kyoko_desu

Nov 13, 2006, 08:46

thread title
If you like Japanese women, please tell me why (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26503&page=2)

Post #32

I frankly don't find extremely petite women attractive, and neither do I find inverted Japanese legs appealing either (why is that by the way?).

What did Gentleman10-san mean by "inverted" there? I have read lots of negative comments about Japanese legs elsewhere and they were mostly saying our legs are short, especially from the knee to the ankle, and the shape is bad with lots of bruises, or was it "mosquito bites"? ...... anyways ....

What does "inverted" mean there? I know our legs are short and bad shaped and get bruices easily, but I don't think they are inside out or upside down.

No, no, don't get me wrong, I am not offended by his post or anything, because he was not attacking us or anything, but just explaining how he was feeling honestly.

I just would want to know the secret meaning of the word "inverted" my dictionaries don't say. Could anyone kindly explain?

よろしくお願いします。:-)

Thunderthief

Nov 13, 2006, 08:53

in·vert (n-vûrt) Pronunciation Key
v. in·vert·ed, in·vert·ing, in·verts

1 To turn inside out or upside down: invert an hourglass.
2 To reverse the position, order, or condition of: invert the subject and predicate of a sentence.
3 To subject to inversion. See Synonyms at reverse.

Borrowed from dictionary.com

Personally I never thought that way, but then again I haven't seen any Japanese up close.

epigene

Nov 13, 2006, 09:06

X脚のことでしょう、多分。:blush:

Mikawa Ossan

Nov 13, 2006, 10:39

Actually, I never could figure out what that means either...

nice gaijin

Nov 13, 2006, 13:10

X脚のことでしょう、多分。:blush:
lol yeah that's what I thought too. There are a lot of girls here who are what we'd call "pidgeon-toed," where the feet point towards each other, and consequently, the knees tend to bend inward (also known as knock knees). I too find this condition unsightly, and have been wondering about the source of such posture.

Mikawa Ossan

Nov 13, 2006, 15:30

lol yeah that's what I thought too. There are a lot of girls here who are what we'd call "pidgeon-toed," where the feet point towards each other, and consequently, the knees tend to bend inward (also known as knock knees). I too find this condition unsightly, and have been wondering about the source of such posture.
Isn't that done intentionally to look "cute"?

leonmarino

Nov 13, 2006, 16:52

Isn't that done intentionally to look "cute"?I think so too. It's all about non-verbal communication; feet which are slightly pointed inward express shyness and insecurity. All to make herself appear more cuddly and harmless than she is. Which would arouse some sort of paternal feeling among men. :relief:

This is all on the subconscious level though, and can be overriden by the conscious thinking that many of us have: "Why don't you just walk straight!?" :blush:

nice gaijin

Nov 13, 2006, 17:39

I'm afraid I don't see it as cute as all. It makes them look frail, and not in an appealing way. I was actually talking to a friend about it today just as some prime examples hobbled by. I can't imagine anyone finding that attractive, but different strokes for different folks I guess.

Mycernius

Nov 13, 2006, 23:30

Inverted? Does that mean their thighs are by their feet and visa versa?:hihi:
I have never seen anything wrong with any legs on Japanese women. Seem to be as varied as they are on English, American, Canadian (Insert nationality here) legs

Kyoko_desu

Nov 14, 2006, 04:51

Originally Posted by nice gaijin
There are a lot of girls here who are what we'd call "pidgeon-toed," where the feet point towards each other, and consequently, the knees tend to bend inward (also known as knock knees).I think the pidgeon-toed is called 内股 (uchimata) (http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/yuichi88/imgs/d/4/d4594c9d.JPG)(反対は、がに股） in Japanese, and yeah, some burikko do it intentionally. As a proud ex-member of the ぶりっこ撲滅同盟　(Burikko Bokumetsu Doumei = Burikko Eradication Association?), I really think it's uncool, but knock knees are different. I just searched for images of X脚 (http://www.tahara-seikei.com/793c.jpg) and O脚 (http://www3.synapse.ne.jp/okyaku/okyaku/okyaku_01.jpg), and I got thousands of sites about X脚&O脚矯正(correction of knock knees and bow-legs) (http://www.google.co.jp/search?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B2GGGL_jaJP177&q=x%E8%84%9A+%E7%9F%AF%E6%AD%A3). And I found out they are not done intentionally, but caused by some pelvis or knee joint problem.

Arigatou gozaimashita, everyone, for the answers and opinions!:-)

By the way,

different strokes for different folks I guess.

What does "stroke" mean there? By guessing from the context, something like "tastes" or "a cup of tea" might fit there, but I can't find that kind of definition in my dictionaries. Oshiete kudasai, yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

Mycernius

Nov 14, 2006, 05:08

What does "stroke" mean there? By guessing from the context, something like "tastes" or "a cup of tea" might fit there, but I can't find that kind of definition in my dictionaries. Oshiete kudasai, yoroshiku onegai shimasu!
Looking through the entire post, it appears to mean tastes, as in different tastes for different people. So you are right about the meaning.
Looking at it I would think it is more an American saying rather than an English one, as I have never heard it in the UK unless talking about the TV show "Different Strokes"

osistlk

Nov 14, 2006, 07:06

"Different strokes for different folks" simply means that everyone has there own individual thoughts, ideas, and motivations, including what the like or find attractive. In this case some people like when women walk with pigeon feet.

nice gaijin

Nov 14, 2006, 07:08

"Different strokes for different folks" is indeed referring to the variety of tastes there are in this world, and it's like saying "It's not my cup of tea, but it's probably somebody else's." The origins might be from the TV show, actually.

I'm glad to hear that the X and O脚 aren't necessarily done on purpose, because it certainly looks unnatural. Where do I sign up for the ぶりっこ撲滅同盟? What are the benefits of membership? :D

Supervin

Nov 14, 2006, 07:22

What does "stroke" mean there? By guessing from the context, something like "tastes" or "a cup of tea" might fit there ...
Yes, 'different strokes for different folks' is predominantly an American saying, whereas the British equivalent would be 'it's not my cup of tea (but it may be someone else's)'.

'Strokes' refers to the arm movement in sports likely, where everyone has a different style. It may have been there mostly for the sake of rhyming with 'folks', as 'strokes' is not that common for that reference, except to refer to illness or mere stroking.

epigene

Nov 14, 2006, 07:46

Supervin

Nov 14, 2006, 07:59

Maybe I'm the only one who remembers it (maybe except for Frank)!! The phrase "different strokes for different folks" comes from here:
1968 hit by Sly and the Family Stone:
Everyday People (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6i24AyhZJs&mode=related&search=)
That's interesting.

Apparently, I read that the 'Everyday People' single was released in attempt to protest against prejudice. Hmm, now the origin is crystal clear. However, the 'strokes' word is still unclear as to what form of the meaning it bears in context.

(By the way, I am feeling a massive generation gap here.)

Kyoko_desu

Nov 15, 2006, 05:57

It may have been there mostly for the sake of rhyming with 'folks', as 'strokes' is not that common for that reference, except to refer to illness or mere stroking.

Ah! 　"Strokes" rhymes with "folks"!! And the phrase probably comes from the old song epigene-san posted or a TV show desu ne? I understand, arigatou gozaimashita.:-)

Originally Posted by nice gaijin
Where do I sign up for the ぶりっこ撲滅同盟? What are the benefits of membership? :DWeeell, if you want to do unko-suwari A.K.A yankee-suwari (Asian squat) and give those burikko gals a mean muggin' join us, it's all FREE! :v:

Gentleman10

Nov 15, 2006, 15:55

Oops sorry I'm responding so late everyone, I haven't really followed up on this thread. Ya, I guess I meant pigeon toed and not inverted. I'm sorry for causing everyone so much confusion!　I really didn't mean to offend anyone, I was just saying how I don't dig the Pigeon-toed look.
:sorry:

One Winged Angel

Nov 16, 2006, 03:11

well you guys are looking strickly physical at japanese women wether their legs are inverted or they are pigeon.a person with these as you call them unattractive innormalities may very well be the nicest person you can ever meet.i think japanese women are beautiful inside and out.pigeon toed dosent mean a thing when it comes to personality right.:okashii:

Kyoko_desu

Nov 16, 2006, 04:52

I guess I meant pigeon toed and not inverted. I'm sorry for causing everyone so much confusion!　I really didn't mean to offend anyone, I was just saying how I don't dig the Pigeon-toed look.

No need to apologize, Gentleman10-san, please do not worry, as I've said above, I didn't take it offensive. As nice gaijin-san said, it's really "different strokes for different folks". Anyway, thanks for participating in this thread and for the clarification. :-)

Now, One Winged Angel-san, thanks for the kind comment about us Japanese women. I just read your posts in other threads, oh you want to learn Japanese! Then you are so lucky that you've found this forum, cuz there are so many nice people who will kindly help you with your questions and everything. I myself don't really know how to explain Japanese grammar, but if there is anything I could do for you, I sure will try and help you too! :wave:

Kyoko_desu

Nov 16, 2006, 05:41

Here's my new question, please help me, onegaishimasu!

thread title
Japanese Adult Videos (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23563&page=6)

Post #101

No wonder the Japanese economy has shown growth (no pun intended) in the last several quarters.

Hmm, I have been staring at this sentence for like 10 minutes now....but still can't find the pun. :(
If anyone has found it, please explain, because I really would like to know. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

doinkies

Nov 16, 2006, 05:58

I think that the "growth" pun may refer to, erm, erections. ^^; Considering it is an AV thread after all.

Mycernius

Nov 16, 2006, 05:59

Kyoko_desu

Nov 17, 2006, 04:52

It relates back to post #100 about the adult industry and what certain adult videos do to a part of a mans anatomy. The word growth can be taken that way as a double entendre see wiki article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_entendre)

Oh .... I see. :hihi:
Mike-san, you are so good at expressing naughty matter politely and thanks for the wiki info!:cool:

Hey, doinkies-chan, you are such an おませな17歳ちゃん！Arigatou for the answer!
:12:アレ:12:が:93:ああ:93:なることを、growth と表現していたとは　気付かなかったぁ～～～！

One Winged Angel

Nov 18, 2006, 02:10

well i dont know much about what you guys are talking about lol but umm....what are we talking about?

Kyoko_desu

Nov 19, 2006, 19:26

well i dont know much about what you guys are talking about lol but umm....what are we talking about?
　　
Ohhh, you are such a かまととちゃん～！:D
If you don't know what "kamatoto" means, check here (http://www2.alc.co.jp/ejr/index.php?word_in=%82%A9%82%DC%82%C6%82%C6&word_in2=%82%A0%82%A2%82%A4%82%A6%82%A8&word_in3=PVawEWi72JXCKoa0Je).

leonmarino

Nov 21, 2006, 15:06

From the Audioblog thread (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26759&page=8), post #188:
I've been behind the eight ball these last few weeks, but have a bit of an open patch of blue sky this week.Now, From the context I understand that our dear fellow member has been really busy, and that he has some spare time this week.. But are these expressions standard English expressions, or is it Mars Man-poetry?

"I've been behind the eight ball" sounds like he has been busy playing, rather than working.. Or does it say that he's been trying get one particular task done all the time, and couldn't finish it off? (I know the 8-ball is the last ball to play in the game with the same name.)

I really like the "open patch of blue sky".. Sounds very relieving and soothing..

Mikawa Ossan

Nov 21, 2006, 15:57

Hahaha! MarsMan is mixing metaphors!

I've never heard of "behind the 8 ball" before, but I'm certain that I have heard of "an open patch of blue sky" in the past.

Glenn

Nov 21, 2006, 21:36

You haven't? I'm pretty sure it's synonymous with "between a rock and a hard place," for the most part.

nice gaijin

Nov 21, 2006, 21:43

I think you're guess is right, leon, that Mars Man has been been very busy and so he hasn't been able to "sink the 8-ball" and finish off his to-do list. I have heard the 8-ball reference before, but have never had it explained to me.

Patch of blue sky is that break in the clouds of work; a chance to relax and enjoy the sun, so to speak.

Kyoko_desu

Nov 22, 2006, 12:14

This is what my dictionary says:
eight ball
【1】（ビリヤードで使う）8番の黒球
【2】〈俗〉黒人｛こくじん｝
【3】とんま、どじなやつ、要領｛ようりょう｝の悪いやつ
I'm behind the eight ball.
（人と）まずいことになっているんだ。
behind the eight ball
困った［困難｛こんなん｝な・不利｛ふり｝な・まずい］状況｛じょうきょう｝で、窮地｛きゅうち｝に陥って ◆【語源】ビリヤードでは8番の玉を台のポケットに落としてはいけないと� ｢うルールがあり、8番ボールの後ろに自分がいて、それを打つとまずいことになるところから。
put ~ behind the eight ball
～の動きを封じるSo I thought what he meant was
大変な状況にあったんだけど、なんとか解決の糸口が見えてきた。

Originally Posted by leonmarino
I really like the "open patch of blue sky".. Sounds very relieving and soothing..So do I. Reminds me of his welcome messages to new members.:-)

Glenn

Nov 22, 2006, 21:28

【2】〈俗〉黒人｛こくじん｝
【3】とんま、どじなやつ、要領｛ようりょう｝の悪いやつNo kidding? I didn't know that. :relief:

I'm behind the eight ball.
（人と）まずいことになっているんだ。
behind the eight ball
困った［困難｛こんなん｝な・不利｛ふり｝な・まずい］状況｛じょうきょう｝で、窮地｛きゅうち｝に陥って ◆【語源】ビリヤードでは8番の玉を台のポケットに落としてはいけないと� ｢うルールがあり、8番ボールの後ろに自分がいて、それを打つとまずいことになるところから。
put ~ behind the eight ball
～の動きを封じるSo I thought what he meant was
大変な状況にあったんだけど、なんとか解決の糸口が見えてきた。

Yes, like I said, it's pretty much synonymous with "between a rock and a hard place."

leonmarino

Nov 23, 2006, 01:48

【1】（ビリヤードで使う）8番の黒球
【2】〈俗〉黒人｛こくじん｝
【3】とんま、どじなやつ、要領｛ようりょう｝の悪いやつびゃっはっは！（爆笑）「黒人」はないやろ！聞いた事ねぇっつーの！失礼な言葉やね・・（笑）
ってか「とんま」って事メチャ懐かしい感じするんだけど俺だけかな？（汗）Yes, like I said, it's pretty much synonymous with "between a rock and a hard place."Ah.. That sounds.. Not so familiar either!! :D But I know what you mean, thanks! :cool:

Glenn

Nov 23, 2006, 02:05

びゃっはっは！（爆笑）「黒人」はないやろ！聞いた事ねぇっつーの！失礼な言葉やね・・（笑）

そうですよね。間違いなく、失礼な言い方ですよ。そんなものがあったなんて、さっぱり知りませんでした。

Kyoko_desu

Nov 23, 2006, 04:14

まじ？ちっ！:wary:

もう英辞朗 (http://www.alc.co.jp/)なんて信用してやらん～。

*追加*
今、Urban Dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=eight+ball&page=3) っていうサイト見てたらこういうのを見つけました。

eight ball

by 1940s

A chronically unfortunate and ineffective person.

loser, sad sack

What an eight ball this guy is.1940年代のアメリカンスラングっていうことなので� A英辞朗のいう、「とんま、どじなやつ、要領の悪いや� ﾂ」という意味でのeight ballは、今ではもう死語になってるんでしょうね。
一方、黒人という意味があると書いてあるスラング辞書は、今のところ見つかってません。　もしかしたら、ボールの色が黒いからそういうふうに使われた時期/地域があったのかもしれないですね。

確かに、「とんま」なんて言葉使う人、見た事ないです。:blush:　このへんではみんな、「どじ」とか「たあけ」っていう言ってるから。あ、「たあけ」は方言だから、おぼえんでもいいよ～。

Glenn

Nov 23, 2006, 23:07

「覚えんで」も覚えんでもいいでしょうね。:p

ところで、「eight ball」という言葉はコカインの量も指せますが、どのくらいかは分かりません。

nice gaijin

Nov 23, 2006, 23:26

「覚えんで」も覚えんでもいいでしょうね。:p

ところで、「eight ball」という言葉はコカインの量も指せますが、どのくらいかは分かりません。
50-80ドルぐらいかな。１グラムだと思う。何で分かるか知らんけど。。。

Kyoko_desu

Nov 23, 2006, 23:35

50-80ドルぐらいかな。１グラムだと思う。何で分かるか知らんけど。。。

ほんとだ～、何でそんなこと知ってるのかな～？
　:okashii:
ユーザーネームを nice gaijin から　ayashii gaijin　に変えなくちゃね！ :giggle:

Glenn

Nov 23, 2006, 23:46

ははは、ひどいじゃない、キョウちゃん！ :p

麻薬に関しての映画をたくさん見ただけだからかもしれんな。

Kyoko_desu

Nov 25, 2006, 09:19

thread title
so i'm going to tokyo soon (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27810&page=2)

Post #39
I think you two should wait to go to Japan before your plan has been formalized somewhere other than on a cocktail napkin...

From the context, I guess the sentence roughly means 計画をきちんと具体的にたててから日本に行くべきだ, and "a cocktail napkin" should be a symbol or a representation of something unformalized.

Presuming it an idiom, I searched several sites for "on a cocktail napkin" but couldn't figure out. Is it yukil_michael-san's original expression? What do English speaking people generally associate a cocktail napkin with?

Yoroshiku onegaishimas.

moofs

Nov 25, 2006, 16:01

A cocktail napkin is used when you drink cocktails. Drinking cocktails = under the influence of alcohol = not in the right state of mind. So yukil's just saying that he should think his plan over when he's capable of making correct decisions, and not do anything stupid. And then he can go to Japan.

A lot of times you'll see people write on napkins at bars, pubs, or wherever. It's common to write notes (for yourself or if you're wanting some...) or play some game or something (tic-tac-toe?). It can be any kind of napkin really, like the ones you get when you order food.

leonmarino

Nov 25, 2006, 17:01

We write things on beer coaster when drinking in bars.. Man o man o man, the countless times I found a beer coaster with something written on it in my pocket the next morning, thinking "what is this!?" :relief: Sometimes phone numbers too, but there were times I could honestly not remember who the person was. :blush:

Kyoko_desu

Nov 26, 2006, 18:47

Drinking cocktails = under the influence of alcohol = not in the right state of mind.

Ah! I see! Now I can fully understand what the sentence means! Thanks for the good explanation, moofs-san! It was really helpful!:-)

Originally Posted by leonmarino
We write things on beer coaster when drinking in bars.. Man o man o man, the countless times I found a beer coaster with something written on it in my pocket the next morning, thinking "what is this!?" Sometimes phone numbers too, but there were times I could honestly not remember who the person was. YOU BAD BOY!!!!! :wary::blush:

Kyoko_desu

Dec 7, 2006, 13:09

thread title
PG-rated : 40 reasons to think that the Japanese are superficial (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?p=410969#post410969)

Post #97

in the US, at least where I live, people of often talk about "the weather". Seems a bit more superficial to me than food. Or "How 'bout dem Packers".

Firstly, "How 'bout dem Packers" is more properly "How about them Packers?", isn't it? "packer" is someone who puts something into a container or the people who crowd together, but in this sentence, the first letter "P" is capitalized, so it might be a proper name. So the people called Packers are commonly known in the US? And they talk about Packers in a light conversation just like they talk about weather?

Oh I just found "Green Bay Packers" an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, "Anderson Packers", a former NBA team from 1949 to 1950, and "Chicago Packers", the former name of the Washington Wizards NBA team from 1961-1962 on Wikipedia. The second one is very old and third one is not used anymore, so maybe Sukotto-san meant Green Bay Packers? Weather and sports can be a good topic when you just wanna have a light conversation, can't they?

Another thing I could think of is:
"How 'bout dem Packers" is a title of a well-known book or TV programme in the US although I didn't get a good result when I searched for one on Google.

Is any of my guess a bingo? Maybe none of them is?

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

leonmarino

Dec 7, 2006, 14:07

お～～！久々の質問やね～！きたーーーーーーーーーー！なんちゃって。

えっと、Ｈｏｗ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｔｈｅｍ　Ｐａｃｋｅｒｓ　は「パッカーズの調子はどうでしょう」って意味ね。天気についてのお話を始めるみたいにいい話題が思いつかない時に、こうやってスポーツの話しを始めると。だからＧｒｅｅｎ　Ｂａｙ　Ｐａｃｋｅｒｓの話なんじゃない？

そのスレはある誰かさんのだからオイは無視してるけんね。（笑）

詳しく説明できなくてスンマセン！

nice gaijin

Dec 7, 2006, 17:31

leon's pretty much got it; it's just something you say when you can't think of anything else. It's like saying 寒いですね！

An older and more common version is "How 'bout them Yankees?" You could substitute any team name I suppose, but the Yankees and more recently the Packers are commonly used.

White Rose

Dec 8, 2006, 05:26

There were some there that would slot me for the tennies on my feet.

From the context, at first I thought "slot" there probably means to "steal", "attack" or something like that.

Close, but no cigar Mr Fortescue ;)

Sorry to drag this up, but ive been reading through this thread and i know what this means.

It's uk army slang for 'kill'. so hes saying he wouldnt trust the people there not to murder him for his shoes.

:)

White Rose

Dec 8, 2006, 05:39

Oh and one more thing - i'm interested if you can figure this out.

put yer yer yer, and tell us what yer yer can yer, cuz yer yer can yer more'n my yer can yer.

To my shame, it took me years to figure out what this meant when i was a kid. my dad used to say it all the time to annoy me when i was little.

:)

Kyoko_desu

Dec 8, 2006, 13:29

leon and nice gaijin-san, thanks so much for the answers but now I have new questions.

Is "how 'bout dem (some popular sports team name)?" like a set phrase? Or they just start talking about one, say, "Did you see the Packers' game yesterday?"
アメリカでは、いつも、決まり言葉のように　"how 'bout dem Packers?"　と聞くことが多いんでしょうか。それともちょっとアレンジしてみて、「昨日のパッカーズはすごかったね/悲惨だったね」とか、「パッカーズは今シーズンは優勝できるかもね。」みたいに話し始めることもよくありますか？

By the way, now I'm so itching to join some American chatroom and use this when they can't find a good topic to chat about! (But I know I wouldn't be able follow them and would get ignored unless it's the Japan oriented chatroom, pupupu)

Another question is "This works only in the US, right? " Here in Japan, especially in Aichi, we would say 「最近ドラゴンズはがんばってるね～」. (You know, the baseball team Chuunichi Dragons is based in Nagoya, Aichi.) leon, what sports team could be the topic like this in Holland? What sports are popular there?

White Rose-san, hey, thanks for joining this thread! Now I have a new teacher, yaaay! :happy: And you have already gave me such an interesting question! But unfortunately, I just noticed I'm running out of time, so I will post my reply to your posts later today or tomorrow morning. See you till then!

leonmarino

Dec 8, 2006, 14:21

Another question is "This works only in the US, right? " Here in Japan, especially in Aichi, we would say 「最近ドラゴンズはがんばってるね～」. (You know, the baseball team Chuunichi Dragons is based in Nagoya, Aichi.) leon, what sports team could be the topic like this in Holland? What sports are popular there?Football. Some (mentally impaired or intellectually challenged people) might call it "soccer". (Kidding folks!! Take it easy..)

So in our case, we'd say something like "hebbie Feyenoord nog gezien?" (d'you see Feyenoord?) (Which is the club from Rotterdam). If you're not sure what the other (Dutch) guy is asking about, it's a good guess to think in football-terms. For example, a few weeks ago a friend asked me, with a big smile on his face: "So, how was your weekend?" I thought for a second, did I tell him anything about what I was going to do this weekend? Then I realized Feyenoord had lost that weekend, while his club Ajax (rivals for life) had won.. He saw my Feyenoord socks (yes I wear them!), so he asked me about my weekend.. Football is a big thing here I can tell you.

Anyway, the Dutch have pretty funny words when it comes to "not having anything to talk about". We might just say, quite out of the blue, "poe poe" (pooh-pooh), which doesn't mean anything. It's just an expression of.. Being tired a little and having nothing to say, something like "pffff...". Similar is "heh heh", which also is an expression: "I am a bit tired and have nothing to say so I'll just say 'heh-heh' to break this uncomfortable silence". Other examples are "so", "nou nou" etc.

はい、今日のオランダ語講座は終わり～！（笑）:wave:

Kyoko_desu

Dec 8, 2006, 23:00

Originally Posted leonmarino
Football. Some (mentally impaired or intellectually challenged people) might call it "soccer". (Kidding folks!! Take it easy..)
Anyway, the Dutch have pretty funny words when it comes to "not having anything to talk about". We might just say, quite out of the blue, "poe poe" (pooh-pooh), which doesn't mean anything. It's just an expression of.. Being tired a little and having nothing to say, something like "pffff...". Similar is "heh heh", which also is an expression: "I am a bit tired and have nothing to say so I'll just say 'heh-heh' to break this uncomfortable silence".
Other examples are "so", "nou nou" etc.Oh yeah! football! I just remembered seeing some European guys always chatting about beer and football in the chatroom I used to go. So football is one of the most popular sports there, but what's wrong with calling it soccer??? And ... haha, Dutch language has such funny sounding words as poe poe and nou nou. English speaking people say "so" or "weeeeell" like that, don't they? I wonder what we say under the same situation ... 「え～っと」? I really can't think of any words for now. 「と、言うことで・・・」　maybe?
Anyway, thanks for the Dutch Lesson, hey, you've gotta do that sometimes, it's interesting and fun! (Hehe, just remembered the YouTube link on VERY IMPORTANT Dutch words , which Dutch baka-san posted in the audioblog thread.):blush:

Close, but no cigar Mr Fortescue ;)
Sorry to drag this up, but ive been reading through this thread and i know what this means. It's uk army slang for 'kill'. so hes saying he wouldnt trust the people there not to murder him for his shoes.

Now, White Rose-san, thanks for explaining me the UK army slang "slot" now I understand it completely. But what does "no cigar Mr Fortescue" mean? I mean, I guess it means "not 100% correct" from the context. Is it another UK slang? And who is Mr. Fortescue?

Originally Posted by White Rose
put yer yer yer, and tell us what yer yer can yer, cuz yer yer can yer more'n my yer can yer.Hmmm, this is so hard! yer yer yer? my yer can yer???? :giggle:
Must sound pretty much like the Japanese local dialect of the area I live at, seriously! because we use alot of yer sound in our speech, lots of yers and nyaas, hehehe. Well, White Rose-san, now I can't wait to read your answer, yes, I throw my hands up!

Mycernius

Dec 9, 2006, 00:56

leonmarino

Dec 9, 2006, 01:24

A guess without using my friend Google.. Isn't "yer" a word for a female sheep? Because we call it "ooi" (ok that doesn't make sense but it comes close anyway). And "yer" sounds a bit like "here" and "hear" too.. So, summing it up:

Put your Yer here, and tell us what your Yer can hear, because your Yer can hear more than my Yer can hear.

Just a wild guess though. :relief:

White Rose

Dec 9, 2006, 01:39

So football is one of the most popular sports there, but what's wrong with calling it soccer???

Soccer is the american word.

Rebellious b*stards! That land belongs to the queen!

(joke)

Now, White Rose-san, thanks for explaining me the UK army slang "slot" now I understand it completely. But what does "no cigar Mr Fortescue" mean? I mean, I guess it means "not 100% correct" from the context. Is it another UK slang? And who is Mr. Fortescue?

I said that just to annoy you :blush:

'Close, but no cigar' means that your answer was close, but not quite correct.

And 'mr fortescue' is a gaming reference, so if you decide to ever use this phrase, id drop that bit ;)

Hmmm, this is so hard! yer yer yer? my yer can yer???? :giggle:
Must sound pretty much like the Japanese local dialect of the area I live at, seriously! because we use alot of yer sound in our speech, lots of yers and nyaas, hehehe. Well, White Rose-san, now I can't wait to read your answer, yes, I throw my hands up!

put your ear here, and tell us what your ear can hear, because your ear can hear more than my ear can hear.

If you say it in a south western english accent, it sounds like a load of 'yer's

:-)

and i forget who asked me but no i'm not from yorkshire, im from devon.

Mycernius

Dec 9, 2006, 02:40

I can hear Phil Harding saying that to Tony now:giggle:
"C'mere Tony. Put yer yer yer and see if yer can yer wot I can yer"

Just slightly off topic, but a Brummie Joke for you
(UK residents would understand)
One Brummie meets another brummie fishing in the cut.
First Brummie goes, "What 'as yow caught?"
Second Brummie "I caught a whale"
First Brummie, "A whale in the cut? What's yow done with it?"
Second Brummie "I threw it back"
Firs Brummie "Yow threw it back. Why dids yow throw it back?"
Second Brummie "It got no spokes in it"

Kyoko_desu

Dec 9, 2006, 05:54

One which my fellow Southerners should be able to read quite easily, but which may cause others some trouble.

CM DUCKS
MR NOT DUCKS
MR2 DUCKS
CM WANGS
OMR DUCKS

I just remembered this, hehehe.:p

By the way, Mycernius-san, would you explain me the joke? I can't get it.:(

nice gaijin

Dec 9, 2006, 11:09

the jokes are a bit different, but they are both making fun of accents ("yer" in the south western English accent, and "CM ducks" in the southern American accent). I thought someone did explain it somewhere, but i'll put it here for you.

See 'em ducks?
'em are not ducks
'em are too ducks!
see 'em wangs (wings)
oh, 'em are ducks!

'em is a shortened way of saying "them" in a southern accent, it sounds like they're just saying the letter "M"

undrentide

Dec 9, 2006, 11:39

Just slightly off topic, but a Brummie Joke for you
(UK residents would understand)
One Brummie meets another brummie fishing in the cut.
First Brummie goes, "What 'as yow caught?"
Second Brummie "I caught a whale"
First Brummie, "A whale in the cut? What's yow done with it?"
Second Brummie "I threw it back"
Firs Brummie "Yow threw it back. Why dids yow throw it back?"
Second Brummie "It got no spokes in it"

I did not know the word Brummie until I looked it up in dictionary! :relief:
This reminds me of a person I met at Narita Airport several years ago - he was from Birmingham (or Northampton? I'm not sure now...) and he was a very pleasant person but I had a bit hard time to understand his speech ... had to pay 120% attention :p

Mycernius

Dec 9, 2006, 19:04

I just remembered this, hehehe.:p

By the way, Mycernius-san, would you explain me the joke? I can't get it.:(
It is to do with regional accents.
Brummie is a resident of Birmingham, a city in the centre of England.
The cut is slang for a canal.
Yow is you.
A whale, on which the punchline hangs on, is the way a Brummie would say wheel.
When asked what he caught he said wheel and threw it back because there were no spoke in the wheel, as in bike wheel.
Have a read on this site (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A496352) and wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brummie)

nice gaijin

Dec 9, 2006, 21:54

I feel foolish, I thought she was asking for the joke she quoted to be explained :relief:

Kyoko_desu

Dec 10, 2006, 05:58

Thank you very much for the explanations, Mycernius-san and nice gaijin-san. I finally got the joke of the whale, hehehe, yeah I'm always slow. nice gaijin-san, please don't feel that way, it was my fault not quoting Mycernius-sans joke there. いつもnice gaijin-san のことをとっても頼りにしているんですから、これからもどんどん教えてくださいね。:cool:

originally posted by undrentide
This reminds me of a person I met at Narita Airport several years ago - he was from Birmingham (or Northampton? I'm not sure now...) and he was a very pleasant person but I had a bit hard time to understand his speech ... had to pay 120% attentionWow, but you did understand him alright, didn't you? Sugoi!:-)
I'm always having a hard time to understand my Phillipino co-workers. Their English is totally different from the one I learned at schcool, and we have to talk in a loud machine sound. But, I LOVE talking with them, it's so much fun!

Qutiepie

Dec 10, 2006, 08:58

Younger Brits' English is more understandable than previous generations to me at least,British actors David Niven and Michael Caine are two Englishmen I always had to earfully emphasis and full concentration when watching their films duh.

nice gaijin

Dec 10, 2006, 09:57

Having a faint understanding of how accents work (rhotic vs. non-rhotic, etc), my biggest problem with English dialects is local vocabulary. I recall a scene from the movie "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," where one Englishman retells a story to another, and there are subtitles (in English) so the audience can understand what they're talking about! In that case, the story was laden with slang terms that utilized a rhyming scheme (bird's nest = chest, nuclear sub = pub, and so on). I found a transcript, see if you can make sense of it!

Rory? Yeah I know Rory. He's not to be underestimated, you've got to look past the hair and the cute, cuddly thing - it's all a deceptive facade. A few nights ago Rory's Roger iron's rusted, so he's gone to the local battle-cruiser to catch the end of his footer. Nobody is watching the custard so he turns the channel over. A fat man's north opens and he wanders over and turns the Liza over. 'Now **** off and watch it somewhere else.' Rory knows claret is imminent, but he doesn't want to miss the end of the game; so, calm as a coma, he stands and picks up a fire extinguisher and he walks straight past the jam rolls who are ready for action, then he plonks it outside the entrance. He then orders an Aristotle of the most ping pong tiddly in the nuclear sub and switches back to his footer. 'That's ******* it,' says the guy. 'That's ******* what' says Rory. Rory gobs out a mouthful of booze covering fatty; he then flicks a flaming match into his bird's nest and the man's lit up like a leaky gas pipe. Rory, unfazed, turned back to his game. His team's won too. Four-nil.

even better, I found a youtube video of this scene (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wsh4cbR-ybs). Warnings all around for language and violence!

leonmarino

Dec 10, 2006, 17:39

That reminds me of the famous Trainspotting "Choose life" (http://youtube.com/watch?v=JpejbWOWvBU) scene. Not much slang in here, just a Scottish accent (and not too heavy in my opinion) and a interesting monologue. :-)

Mycernius

Dec 10, 2006, 18:55

Nice Gaijin. It is Cocky Rhyming slang, a form found in the East End of London. Some phrases have made it into general English use, well in the UK anyway, others are still only found in the East End.
Just soem most people would recognise:
Brown Bread - Dead,
Mutton and Jeff - Deaf
Dog and Bone - Telephone
A butchers - To look at

A few sites:
http://www.aldertons.com/
http://www.phespirit.info/cockney/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney_rhyming_slang

JimmySeal

Dec 10, 2006, 19:24

It is Cocky Rhyming slang
Hehe. You mean C0ckney. (sorry for the 1337, but the swearword detector starred out the first four letters.)

I've also heard of "apple <- apples & pears - stairs" and in another youtube clip for that movie I heard "chevy chase - face"

Mycernius

Dec 10, 2006, 22:46

Bugger, I didn't even see the spelling mistake:p

Kyoko_desu

Dec 11, 2006, 09:32

Ah! I learned a bit about Cockney at school!

Oh, the first four letters weren't censored.:blush:

Kyoko_desu

Dec 14, 2006, 05:16

thread title
Things I’ve only said in Japan (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28237)

Post #7
Is it the guy who ijimated you ?

Since I couldn't find this word "ijimate" in any dictionaries, I've been guessing it might be a Maciamo-san's made-up word, originated by a Japanese word ijimeru (いじめる). Then the sentence would mean 「これが、あなたをいじめた人ですか？」or more informally 「これが君をいじめたやつか？」, and it could make sense to me.

If my this wild guess is right, now I wonder how many people can get it, because I don't think this Japanese word is that wide-spreaded as "kimono", "ninja" or "manga", and most of the non-Japanese people who have never been to Japan or who have no interest in Japan probably don't know it. He just used it here because it's an Japan oriented forum?

Or Maybe it was just a typo or misspelling?

By the way, the English translation for いじめ is "bullying", right? Does it include 精神的ないじめ such as 仲間はずれ or 無視 as well as voilence such as hitting, punching, and kicking?

moofs

Dec 14, 2006, 08:23

Yep you got it right! It's common in english to just tack on verb ending inflections to non-verb words and it'd still make sense. It works with any suffixes actually. You could say "That guy's an ijime-er!!!" with the -er suffix meaning "someone who does (verb)" like teacher is "someone who teaches". Or the suffix -ish (らしい), you can make words up like "That guy looks ijime-ish... better not go near him." It's just like how you'd tack on る to make new verbs in japanese. =]

Bullying is usually physical but it does encompass emotional abuse and verbal abuse and whatever else bullies do.

Kyoko_desu

Dec 16, 2006, 05:00

It's common in english to just tack on verb ending inflections to non-verb words and it'd still make sense. It works with any suffixes actually. You could say "That guy's an ijime-er!!!" with the -er suffix meaning "someone who does (verb)" like teacher is "someone who teaches". Or the suffix -ish (らしい), you can make words up like "That guy looks ijime-ish... better not go near him." It's just like how you'd tack on る to make new verbs in japanese.

moofs-san, that's so interesting that one can make up new English words like that, thanks for the explanation!:-)
We (especially young school girls) do like making up words like that, for explample:

*add "ru" and make a new verb*
マクる　(maku + ru) = go to McDonald's
オケる (oke + ru) = do Karaoke
コピる　(kopi + ru) = copy, make a copy
ラブる　(rabu + ru) = love somone

*add the - ing suffix and make an English sounding words*
ホレッティング　(horetting) = (horeru + ing) = （惚れる　+　ing )--- be in love with somone
むかつきんぐ　(mukatsuking) = (mukatsuku + ing) ＝（むかつく　+ ing) --- be angry

Bullying is usually physical but it does encompass emotional abuse and verbal abuse and whatever else bullies do.

I see, so it can include any physical and social harrassment, although it usually means physical one.moofs-san, arigatou gozaimashita!:wave:

Kyoko_desu

Jan 8, 2007, 12:39

（ちょっと遅くなりましたけど）明けましておめでとうございます。:bow:
クリスマスからお正月休みにかけて、英語の勉強はさぼりまくりでした。
でも、やっとエンジンがかかってきたようで、また、皆さんの書き込みを読んで勉強したいという気持ちがモリモリ出てきました。ということで、先生、今年もよろしくお願いいたします！

では、今年最初の質問です。

thread title
What is your mother tongue ? (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8695&page=13)

Post #242

I speak the vanila mix of Japanese and American English.

By checking his profile and other posts, I figured JerseyBoy-san is a Japanese guy who has been living in the USA for more than 10 years, so he must speak both Japanese and American English fluently.

I looked up my dictionaries for the expression "vanilla mix" but couldn't find what it really means. "vanilla" by itself means a special taste to ice cream, cakes, etc., and it's something sweet and tastey for me. So, maybe "speaking vanilla mix of two languages" means "well-balanced mix of them" or maybe it referes that he can speak those langauges very nicely and sweetly or something?

Oh, and when I did an image search for "vanilla mix" I got these (http://images.google.co.jp/images?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B2GGGL_jaJP177&q=vanilla%20mix&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi). Does the expression have anything to do with those products?

よろしくお願いします。

ポール

Jan 8, 2007, 14:17

"Vanilla" is often used metaphorically to mean "standard" or sometimes "boring" because it is the most common ice-cream flavour. I think he's just saying that "I speak Japanese and English, like you'd expect in an English site about the Japanese language."

Incidentally 'mix' is just because he speaks a _mix_ of two languages,
I don't think it's anything to do with 'vanilla mix'.

Kyoko_desu

Jan 9, 2007, 08:03

Oh! "standard" or "boring"! Yeah if someone ordered a vanila ice cream at the サーティーワン here, we would probably wonder why he wants such an too-common/standard flavour. (サーティーワン is how we call Baskin Robins ice cream shop here, btw.)

Thank you very much, Pooru-san, now I know that JersyBoy-san can speak both English and Japanese like normal native speakers do.
ありがとうございました！:-)

leonmarino

Jan 9, 2007, 16:55

Hello!
Just wanted to say hi to y'all again! I won't be online as often as in the past, but I'll hop in and post from time to time. :)

ps: sorry for hi-jacking your thread Kyoko. :blush:

ポール

Jan 9, 2007, 17:26

Oh! "standard" or "boring"! Yeah if someone ordered a vanila ice cream at the サーティーワン here, we would probably wonder why he wants such an too-common/standard flavour. (サーティーワン is how we call Baskin Robins ice cream shop here, btw.)
Thank you very much, Pooru-san, now I know that JersyBoy-san can speak both English and Japanese like normal native speakers do.
ありがとうございました！:-)
As being native speaking level in both languages is far from usual so you should take JersyBoy's use of 'vanilla' as having a native Japanese level of 謙遜.

Glenn

Jan 10, 2007, 19:12

Being native speaking in both languages is far from unusual? I thought it was the other way around.

Kyoko_desu

Jan 11, 2007, 08:07

I think I know why you two have two different ideas about being able to speak two languages.

Paul san is in the UK, which is in Europe, where lots of people speak more than two languages. On the other hand, Glenn-san is in the US and currently staying Japan, where not many people can speak two langauges.

Anyway, I think I understand what this word "vanilla" means now.
Paul-san and Glenn-san, thank you very much! :-)

Kyoko_desu

Jan 11, 2007, 08:44

Hello!
Just wanted to say hi to y'all again! I won't be online as often as in the past, but I'll hop in and post from time to time. :)

ps: sorry for hi-jacking your thread Kyoko. :blush:

Oops! I almost missed your post, leon!
I'm so happy to know that you didn't leave here. And hahaha! your hi-jacking is always welcome~!
:wave:

ポール

Jan 11, 2007, 16:24

Being native speaking in both languages is far from unusual? I thought it was the other way around.
Er, I got stuck half way between

"unusual"
and
"far from usual"
:relief:

Glenn

Jan 12, 2007, 20:48

I figured that was probably the case. Funny that that happens when typing as well as in speech. Makes me think that typing is just a different form of speech (man, I hope that doesn't sound too obvious, 'cause it just did to me).

undrentide

Feb 26, 2007, 01:26

My question is not about an expression used on this forum but from a book I'm reading now. I hope other members don't mind my posting it here - I think my question is not worthwhile to creat a new thread...
:relief:

What I'm now reading is "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Lynne Truss (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eats-Shoots-Leaves-Tolerance-Punctuation/dp/1861976771/sr=8-1/qid=1172421871/ref=pd_ka_1/026-9377404-3250009?ie=UTF8&s=books). It is a book about punctuation. Normally books on grammar are rather boring, but this one isn't. It is a very serious book about punctuation, yet it is hilarious!
The title comes from the pand joke, which is also about the punctuation problem.

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.
"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The pand produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."
The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.
"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots, and leaves."It's a great book, a "must read" for anyone who writes in English!

Now my question. I have to quote longish part from the chapter "Airs and Graces" which is about colon and semicolon.

Cecil Hartley, in his Principles of Punctuation: or, The Art of Pointing (1818), includes this little poem, which tells us the simple one-two-three of punctuation values.

The stops point out, with truth, the time of pause
A sentence doth require at ev'ry clause.
At ev'ry comma, stop while one you count;
At semicolon, two is the amount;
A colon doth require the time of three;
The period four, as learned men agree.

This system of sorting punctuation marks as if they were musical rests of ascending value has gone unquestioned for a long time, but do you know what I think? I think it's rubbish. Complete nonsense. Who counts to tow? Who counts to three? Imagine all those poor devils who have, abiding by this ridiculous rule, sat at desks for the past three centuries, tapping pencils and trying to work out whether "To err is human, tap, tap, to forgive devine" is superior to "To err is human, tap, tap, TAP, to forgive devine" - before bursting into tears because each version sounds as bad as the other. The idea of the semicolon as an imperceptible bit weightier than a comma, and the colon as a teensy bit lighter than a full stop, is a wrong-headed way of both characterising the colon and semicolon, and (especially) sorting them out. They are not like so many bags of sugar attached to the belt of a sentence to slow it down. Quite opposite.What made me puzzled is the sentence in bold.
Why bags of sugar? It seems to be some kind of metaphor but exactly what?
What came to my mind when I first read it is the sand bags tied around the basket under the hot-air baloon. But they are bags of sand, not sugar.
Could someone explain what these bags of sugar are about?
:clueless::bow:

leonmarino

Feb 26, 2007, 02:37

The title comes from the panda joke, which is also about the punctuation problem.Bwahaha!! Great joke.Why bags of sugar? It seems to be some kind of metaphor but exactly what?Well my best guess is he chose sugar as a metaphor because sugar is used to sweeten things up. In the same way as the Mary Poppins' song, "one spoon of sugar and the medicine goes down", something not as good can be made better by simply adding sugar. So it's actually two metaphors in one because indeed, like you say, bags of sand are used to slow hot air balloons down.

But, this is nothing but a guess from a non-native English speaker.

I think it's similar to the use of "cheesy". Cheese being used often on pizza's to make it taste better.. Even it is awful at times!! :relief:

undrentide

Feb 27, 2007, 07:28

Bwahaha!! Great joke.
Hahaha, I like this kind of joke.

Well my best guess is he chose sugar as a metaphor because sugar is used to sweeten things up. In the same way as the Mary Poppins' song, "one spoon of sugar and the medicine goes down", something not as good can be made better by simply adding sugar. So it's actually two metaphors in one because indeed, like you say, bags of sand are used to slow hot air balloons down.

But, this is nothing but a guess from a non-native English speaker.

I think it's similar to the use of "cheesy". Cheese being used often on pizza's to make it taste better.. Even it is awful at times!! :relief:

Thank you for your comments, which really are convincing and look to be valid. Thank you!
:-):-)

I'm just curious what others feel when they read/hear this sentence, especially who are native speaker of English... it does not seem that I'm getting more replies, perhaps the title of this thread is in Japanese and that scares off the people?
:relief::relief: