Pop Culture Words
Pop Culture Words
Strong (Iron) Man
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鉄人 Strong, Iron Man |
 The word: |
 Closer look at the kanji: |
 B = Beginner | I = Intermediate | A = Advanced |
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鉄人 |
地下鉄 chi ka tetsu - subway (not the restaurant!) [B] |
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  ...And just out of warranty! |
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SUGGESTED USAGE: 無敵な鉄人ボブは夏の小雨で錆びた。 |
ABOUT SUGGESTED USAGE:
無敵 mu teki - invincible, unrivaled (no enemies strong enough to challenge)
ボブ bobu - Bob (a tough sounding name like the Fonz)
夏 natsu - summer
の no - shows possesion It was a light sprinkle OF the summer
小雨 ko same - light rain Another and perhaps an easier way would be to say, 'karui ame' (light rain)
で de - in He rusted because of being IN the rain
錆びた sabita - rusted from sabiru
しぶい子供 Sophisticated Child
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しぶい子供 Sophisticated Child |
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| Given a chance, little Frank can push the boundaries of kindergarten culture. |
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SUGGESTED USAGE: フランクちゃんはしぶい子供なので、シナトラしか歌いません。 |
ABOUT SUGGESTED USAGE:
フランク furanku - Frank
ちゃん chan - chan is mainly used for girls, but can be used for small boys as well
しぶい shibui - Shibui is one of those words that is hard to grasp especially for gaijin! It implies a man who has a state of coolness about him. Elegance and a kind of maturity that everyone can instantly recognize.
Some examples of men who are shibui (according to Yumi!) are:
Dustin Hoffman
Roger Moore
Charles Bronson
and in Japan one of my favorite actors who may be considered to have that shibui-ness about him is:
Tamura Masakazu (better known as Furuhata Ninzaburou the detective)
ので node - therefore, so...
シナトラ shinatora - Sinatra whose first name is shared by our hero (Frank)
しか shika - alone, only this Always is paired with a negative verb. nihongo shika hanasemasen. (I only speak Japanese)
歌いません utaimasen - not sing
フィーバー Disco Fever
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フィーバー (disco) fever |
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The word: |
Closer look at the kanji: |
B = Beginner | I = Intermediate | A = Advanced |
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フィーバー |
- No Kanji! [B] |
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| Thus Herbert began a new craze which made the older generation shiver... |
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SUGGESTED USAGE: ねえ、ねえ、最新のダンスしっている？フィーバー、フィーバー！ |
ABOUT SUGGESTED USAGE:
ねえ、ねえ nee, nee - hey you used to get someones attention when you have something you want to say. Casual
最新 sai shin - the newest, latest saishin no ryuukou (latest fashion)
の no - possessive
ダンス dansu - dance yep, from the English
しっている shitteiru - know a more polite form of Do you know? is shitteimasu ka?; An even more polite form is gozonji desu ka?
フィーバー fi-ba- - fever from the 1970s disco craze comes this timeless and ever-so-useful Japaglish
ポンコツ Piece of Junk
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ポンコツ junk, junky, piece of junk |
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| nandakke?! |
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SUGGESTED USAGE: ぼくの車は何だっけ？ポルシェか、ランボルギーニか？あっ、そうか、ポンコツだった！ |
ABOUT SUGGESTED USAGE:
ポンコツ ponkotsu - junky This word may have come from the word for the large hammer blacksmiths use to pound metel. If you know something else, please use the comment button below and let us know.
ぼく boku - I BOKU is used mainly by boys and men; Adding a の NO after BOKU makes it mean [my]
車 kuruma - car
何だっけ nandakke - What was that? the KE at the end is often used to impress on the listener that the answer is on the tip of your tongue.
ポルシェ porushe - Porsche
か ka - or used with lists of this or that...
ランボルギーニ ranborugi-ni - Lamborghini
あっ、そうか a, souka - Oh yeah [I remember]! the small っ TSU shows a sudden stop as if surprised.
だった！ datta - was Although the car is still a piece of junk, since the person finally remembers what he was thinking of, he uses a past tense.
位置について、用意、ドン！ Get ready, set, go!
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位置について、用意、ドン！ Get ready, set, go! |
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SUGGESTED USAGE: 位置について、ようい、どんぐり！ |
ABOUT SUGGESTED USAGE:
どんぐり donguri - acorn Instead of ドン！ we replace it with どんぐり which means an (oak) acorn. Has the same sound starting out.
| Once I was the announcer for a race between Japanese students and some English teachers. As the runners lined up I shouted, "ichi ni tsuite..." and everyone got in position. Then I shouted, "youi..." and everyone prepared to begin the race. But when I yelled, "DONGURI" the foreigners all took off with precision and speed, but the Japanese took one step and then fell to the ground laughing! I still feel a little guilty for that. Sorry guys. |
隠れファン Closet Fan
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隠れファン CLOSET FAN [the fact you like something is kept a secret] |
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The word: |
Closer look at the kanji: |
B = Beginner | I = Intermediate | A = Advanced |
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隠れファン |
雲隠れ kumo gakure - disappearance [into the clouds - like a ninja] [A] 隠れん坊 kakuren bou - hide-and-go-seek game [B] 証拠隠滅 shou ko in metsu - destruction of evidence [A] ファンクラブ fan kurabu - fan club [B] |
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| Big John is a mite pickled they never made a sequel. |
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SUGGESTED USAGE: 実は猟師のジョンはバンビの隠れ大ファンだった。 |
ABOUT SUGGESTED USAGE:
実は jitsu wa - actually, really, in reality
猟師 ryou shi - a hunter
ジョン jon - John [name]
バンビ banbi - Bambi
雪だるま Snowman
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雪だるま snowman |
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The word: |
Closer look at the kanji: |
B = Beginner | I = Intermediate | A = Advanced |
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雪だるま |
雪合戦 yuki gassen - snow fight [B] 雪かき yuki kaki - shovel snow [I] |
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| The biggest difference in Western and Japanese snowmen is Japanese yuki daruma have only 2 parts - head and waist. They have no legs! The hat in the picture is a bucket. |
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SUGGESTED USAGE: 雪だるまのフロースティは、夢だったフロリダ旅行に行きましたが、それは悪夢に終わった。 |
ABOUT SUGGESTED USAGE:
夢 yume - dream just like the English, it can also mean what you dream about for the future
フロリダ旅行 furorida ryokou - Florida trip
行きました ikimashita - went past tense and -masu form of 行く iku
が ga - but..
それは sore wa - as for all that...
悪夢 aku mu - night mare lit. bad dream
に終わった ni owatta - ended in
雪女 Snow Woman
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雪女 Snow Woman |
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The word: |
Closer look at the kanji: |
B = Beginner | I = Intermediate | A = Advanced |
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雪女 |
大雪 oo yuki - heavy snow [B] 初雪 hatsu yuki - first snow of the season [I] 彼女 kanojo - she, her, girlfriend [B] 女の子 onna no ko - girl [B] |
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SUGGESTED USAGE: フロリダに住んでいる人々にとって、雪女はあまり怖くないんです。 |
ABOUT SUGGESTED USAGE:
フロリダ furorida - Florida Foreign words are always written in katakana
に住んでいる ni sunde iru - living in
人々 hito bito - people The 々 to the right of the kanji means to repeat the kanji. It means the same as 人人
にとって ni totte - as for...
あまり怖くないんです amari kowakunai n desu - not very scary the amari means *very* and is used with negative sentences. The n just before desu is often used when explaining something