Jan. 27, 2024
You may already know that we Japanese are fond of making a word from more than two words by abbreviating or synthesizing them. For example, 就活, which means "job hunting", is the abbreviated and compounded word, originating from 就職活動. In this case, the former kanji characters of each word( 就職 and活動) are chosen and united. There are endless examples to give in terms of this type. キムタク, which is the nickname of the famous actor 木村拓哉, also belongs to this type. As another type, 育メン, which means men who pleasingly engage in child-rearing, comes from the phrase育児を好む男性(メン). In this case, a much longer phrase can be abbreviated.
As a recent interesting example, ちな今 is still new to my ears. As you can imagine, the original phrase is ちなみに今. You can see it in the message like this, 僕は今東京、ちな今どこ?(I am now in Toko, how about you? ) For young people who like to take less time texting, it is convenient to shorten sentences or phrases if they can easily understand the meaning. It is no exaggeration to say that young people tend to create new words. We elderly are often surprised to hear unfamiliar words online or on TV. I dare not to use them, but I feel uncomfortable if I don’t know their meaning. So, I usually intend to catch up with such new words.
Recently, I’ve heard a strange saying, that is もしトラ. Can you guess what it means? The original sentence is もしトランプが大統領選で勝ったら(If Mr. Trump wins the next presidential election). It can be used like もしトラは日本経済にどう影響するか(If Mr. trump win the presidential election, how will the Japanese economy be affected? ) There is another version, まじトラ, which means まじでトランプが勝った (Mr. trump has truly been elected as the president). It is a bit awkward that such strange phrases can be heard not only in dally conversations, but also on TV news.
略語
私たち日本人がいくつかの言葉を省略したり統合したりして造語するのが好きなことを、あなた方はもうご存知かもしれません。例えば、「就活」。これは就職と活動という二つの言葉のそれぞれ最初の漢字を選んで合成したものです。このタイプは例を挙げればキリがありません。有名な男優木村拓哉のニックネーム「キムタク」もこのタイプです。別のタイプとしては「育メン」。これは喜んで育児に取り組む男性(メン)という意味で、もっと長いフレーズが省略されています。
最近の面白いものとして「ちな今」はまだ耳に新しいです。ご想像通り、「ちなみに今」の略です。次のようなメッセージに見られます。「僕は今東京。ちな今そっちはどこ?」キーを打つのに時間をかけたくない若者にとって、簡単に意味が通じるならばフレーズを短縮するのは便利です。若者が新しい言葉を生み出すと言っても過言ではありません。私たち老人はネットやテレビで聞きなれない言葉を見てびっくりすることが多いです。あえて使うことはありませんが、意味を知らないのは気持ちが悪い。だから、いつも取り残されないよう気をつけます。
最近、奇妙な言い回しを聞きました。「もしトラ」です。意味わかりますか?元の文は「もしトランプ氏が大統領選で勝利したら」です。「もしトラは日本経済にどう影響するか」というように使います。「まじトラ」というのもあります。「マジでトランプ氏が勝った」という意味です。こんな奇妙な言葉を普段の会話だけでなくテレビニュースでも耳にするのには呆れますが。
You may already know that we Japanese people are fond of making a word from more than two words by abbreviating or synthesizing them.
I'm not really sure that the original phrasing is even wrong, it felt good enough to me, but "we <organization>" isn't I feel the most common phrasing. Rather, if the speaker only mentions the organization, they may be speaking as a member of that organization. Especially on a language exchange forum.
Just putting a note up here for context: A lot of my suggestions are going to be for naturalness. This was written very well and was easy to understand which makes me want to raise my standards on my suggestions.
For example, 就活, which means "job hunting", is thean abbreviated andion of the compounded word, originating from 就職活動.
"就職活動" is already a compound word, but saying 就活 is "abbreviated and compounded" makes it sound like its original form was not a "compound" itself. But also, I feel "to form a compound word" would be more natural phrasing than "compounded word".
In this case, the formerirst kanji characters of each word( 就職 and活動) are chostaken and unitcombined.
kanji: This and many loan words from Chinese and Japanese are already plural. However, even were that not the case, it should be singular. Please see these examples:
"Give one piece of candy to each student." -> do "give a piece of candy" per student
"Give two pieces of candy to each student." -> do "give two pieces of candy" per student
chosen -> taken: "Chosen" doesn't really make sense here in the English sense, but I'm not sure if there's a difference in meaning from the Japanese version.
それぞれ最初の漢字を選んで合成したものです。
Looks right to me, I just think English speakers might not use "chosen" here.
united -> combined: Unite gives me more this feeling of the combining of forces, collaborating, 協力する. Referencing the dictionary, I'm hoping the difference becomes clear:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unite
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/combine
There are endless examples to give in terms of this type.
More natural, I think, would be "there are countless examples of this."
As another type, 育メン, which means men who pleasingly engageenjoy participating in child-rearing, comes from the phrase育児を好む男性(メン).
You can see it in the message like this, 僕は今東京、ちな今どこ?(I am now in Tokoyo now, how about you? )
Without your translation, I would've assumed the "ちな今どこ?" meant "where are you?," but I feel like the translation kind of implies the listener is also expected to be in Tokyo.
For young people who like to take less timtry to save time while texting, it is convenient to shorten sentences or phrases ifas long as they can easily understand the meaning.
if -> as long as: This felt more natural to me. "if" feels like it implies to me they might still shorted sentences even when it cannot be easily understood whereas "as long as" feels like it much more strongly states they will shorten sentences ONLY when it can be understood, which makes more sense to me because otherwise they can't communicate effectively.
I saw ならば in the Japanese version and someone said at one point ば has that nuance of exclusivity, but I'm not sure.
I dare not to use them, but I feel uncomfortable if I don’t know their meaning.
"I dare not" is a weird phrase in modern English for not using "to," but I think "to" can't follow a "not" or other adverbs since it's a preposition.
Recently, I’ve heard a strange saying, that is もしトラ.
Feedback
This is what we call a "living language," huh.
Overall, really well written and also educational! I left a lot of suggestions, but like I said above, it was very easy to understand what you were trying to say and your English is overall very good. For the most part, there was just some unnatural phrasing in parts.
Abbreviated words |
You may already know that we Japanese are fond of making a word from more than two words by abbreviating or synthesizing them. You may already know that I'm not really sure that the original phrasing is even wrong, it felt good enough to me, but "we <organization>" isn't I feel the most common phrasing. Rather, if the speaker only mentions the organization, they may be speaking as a member of that organization. Especially on a language exchange forum. Just putting a note up here for context: A lot of my suggestions are going to be for naturalness. This was written very well and was easy to understand which makes me want to raise my standards on my suggestions. |
For example, 就活, which means "job hunting", is the abbreviated and compounded word, originating from 就職活動. For example, 就活, which means "job hunting", is "就職活動" is already a compound word, but saying 就活 is "abbreviated and compounded" makes it sound like its original form was not a "compound" itself. But also, I feel "to form a compound word" would be more natural phrasing than "compounded word". |
In this case, the former kanji characters of each word( 就職 and活動) are chosen and united. In this case, the f kanji: This and many loan words from Chinese and Japanese are already plural. However, even were that not the case, it should be singular. Please see these examples: "Give one piece of candy to each student." -> do "give a piece of candy" per student "Give two pieces of candy to each student." -> do "give two pieces of candy" per student chosen -> taken: "Chosen" doesn't really make sense here in the English sense, but I'm not sure if there's a difference in meaning from the Japanese version. それぞれ最初の漢字を選んで合成したものです。 Looks right to me, I just think English speakers might not use "chosen" here. united -> combined: Unite gives me more this feeling of the combining of forces, collaborating, 協力する. Referencing the dictionary, I'm hoping the difference becomes clear: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unite https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/combine |
There are endless examples to give in terms of this type. There are endless examples to give in terms of this type. More natural, I think, would be "there are countless examples of this." |
キムタク, which is the nickname of the famous actor 木村拓哉, also belongs to this type. |
As another type, 育メン, which means men who pleasingly engage in child-rearing, comes from the phrase育児を好む男性(メン). As another type, 育メン, which means men who |
In this case, a much longer phrase can be abbreviated. |
As a recent interesting example, ちな今 is still new to my ears. |
As you can imagine, the original phrase is ちなみに今. |
You can see it in the message like this, 僕は今東京、ちな今どこ?(I am now in Toko, how about you? ) You can see it in the message like this, 僕は今東京、ちな今どこ?(I am now in Tok Without your translation, I would've assumed the "ちな今どこ?" meant "where are you?," but I feel like the translation kind of implies the listener is also expected to be in Tokyo. |
For young people who like to take less time texting, it is convenient to shorten sentences or phrases if they can easily understand the meaning. For young people who if -> as long as: This felt more natural to me. "if" feels like it implies to me they might still shorted sentences even when it cannot be easily understood whereas "as long as" feels like it much more strongly states they will shorten sentences ONLY when it can be understood, which makes more sense to me because otherwise they can't communicate effectively. I saw ならば in the Japanese version and someone said at one point ば has that nuance of exclusivity, but I'm not sure. |
It is no exaggeration to say that young people tend to create new words. |
We elderly are often surprised to hear unfamiliar words online or on TV. |
I dare not to use them, but I feel uncomfortable if I don’t know their meaning. I dare not "I dare not" is a weird phrase in modern English for not using "to," but I think "to" can't follow a "not" or other adverbs since it's a preposition. |
So, I usually intend to catch up with such new words. |
Recently, I’ve heard a strange saying, that is もしトラ. Recently, I’ve heard a strange saying, |
Can you guess what it means? |
The original sentence is もしトランプが大統領選で勝ったら(If Mr. Trump wins the next presidential election). |
It can be used like もしトラは日本経済にどう影響するか(If Mr. trump win the presidential election, how will the Japanese economy be affected? ) |
There is another version, まじトラ, which means まじでトランプが勝った (Mr. trump has truly been elected as the president). |
It is a bit awkward that such strange phrases can be heard not only in dally conversations, but also on TV news. |
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