Asriel Wrote:Yeah, as far as I can tell, it seems to be just some sort of exclamation of badness.
研究社リーダーズ＋プラス has カス in as "*****-shit"
So it'd assume that ホントカス would equate to "truly *****-shit"

Must be frustrated that it's in English now...

Seems like you're right. Apparently カス is from 粕(かす), scraps, residue, waste etc left over after making some sort of food or drink, like 酒粕 or 飴粕. You can see the following example in the comments of this very Japanese marriage problem.

「確かにキツイだろうがそれがお前の仕事だろカス」

I don't know if this is the right place to put this, but here it goes...

I'm going through Tae Kim right now and came upon the り used to connect verbs. His example is 映画を見たり、本を読んだり、昼寝したりする。 My question is, can this be used with a polite form? Would only する be polite (します)? Or would the other verbs also be polite (映画をみましたり, etc.)?

aargh57 Wrote:Hi, I'm currently going through Minna no Nihongo I and am having trouble with something. What's the difference between these two sentences?
1.これはだれのノートですか。
２。このノートはだれのですか。

They both mean, "Whose notebook is this?", right? However, they're said in different ways but I don't understand the significance of why they're written twice. Is it just to show that it can be said both ways? I'm sentence mining and don't want to screw up the meaning for these. Thanks.

Obviously I'm no expert, but the difference between これ and この really bugged me so I looked it up. I would say the first one is "Whose notebook is this?" and the second would be "This notebook (specifically) whose is it?"
What I found, (in my English grammar book, so I don't know if this is the same...) is that これ and the object (ノート in this case) are the same thing. While この specifies an object (in this case the ノート). このノート this particular note, この犬 this particular dog.
Someone please correct me if this is wrong!!!!

Angeldust Wrote:I don't know if this is the right place to put this, but here it goes...

I'm going through Tae Kim right now and came upon the り used to connect verbs. His example is 映画を見たり、本を読んだり、昼寝したりする。 My question is, can this be used with a polite form? Would only する be polite (します)? Or would the other verbs also be polite (映画をみましたり, etc.)?

Normally only the final します would be polite. 読みましたり and such is theoretically possible but would be very restricted in use, probably to very formal speech and writing.

(This is typically called たり rather than り).

Angeldust Wrote:What I found, (in my English grammar book, so I don't know if this is the same...) is that これ and the object (ノート in this case) are the same thing. While この specifies an object (in this case the ノート). このノート this particular note, この犬 this particular dog.

これ is a pronoun, so it replaces a noun. For example, you can say both 「私のノートを見てください」 and 「これを見てください」

この is the pronoun こ (which means これ・ここ) plus the particle の. These two sentences, for example, are grammatically identical:「私のノートを見てください」「このノートを見てください」

I'm working on translating something but I'm a bit lost as to what some of the words here mean. Can anyone explain to me what the bolded words mean?

可愛らしいが半目がちで無表情、そっけない態度の女の子。

Mainly, I'm confused about the 半目がち. Rikaichan is failing me.

I get the message that she's pretty or lovely or something, but she has this look on her face and is a cold person. I think?

Could anyone help me with this? Thanks!

半目勝つ is a term used in go that means to win by half a point (thanks kenkyusha! you're the only dictionary i have that had this )

So...taking a stab at it...
It's probably saying that while yes, she's cute, her emotionlessness wins out -- if only by a little bit, and thus she ends up being cold.

How's that? Makes sense to me, but I've never heard it before...

I think here it's just 半目 + がち (tending to be). 半目 means half-closed eyes and can denote a range of (typically negative) personality traits or emotions. It's often associated with fictional characters; here's a nicovideo dictionary link that mentions some of the traits:
http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E5%8D%8A%E7%9B%AE

If 半目がち were somehow modifying 無表情, it wouldn't be で, I don't think.

Aah, yeah that makes more sense than mine -- go with his.

I was thinking the で would be functioning in like a 「株でもうける」sort of way.

Awesome! That really helped out a lot. Thank you so much, guys! :) Better get back to translating!

Does anyone know what exactly なかろう means here? I can find an expression that means "probably not so", but I still can't use that to make any sense of the second sentence:

台所に立つたびに、こう毎日ご飯を用意する世の中の母親は凄いんだなと思ったりする。僕だけなら、別にいつ食べようが一切た食べなかろうがどうでも構わないんだけど…でも、穹までそうさせるわけにはいかない。

My best guess is something like:

"If it's just me, even when I eat, I don't eat eat (hardly) anything at all, but I don't mind."

なかろう is equivalent to ないだろう, but this is a pattern that means "whether I do X or Y". "If it's just me, I don't really care when I eat or even if I eat at all."

Ah, thanks! I guess it's really like 〜ようが〜まいが, makes perfect sense

FooSoft Wrote:台所に立つたびに、こう毎日ご飯を用意する世の中の母親は凄いんだなと思ったりする。僕だけなら、別にいつ食べようが一切た食べなかろうがどうでも構わないんだけど…でも、穹までそうさせるわけにはいかない。

I'm guessing 穹 is someone's name?

君は中々筋がいいね。でもプロになりたいらな、ちゃんとレッスンを受けた方がいい。

what is らな in なりたいらな ??

fakewookie Wrote:

FooSoft Wrote:台所に立つたびに、こう毎日ご飯を用意する世の中の母親は凄いんだなと思ったりする。僕だけなら、別にいつ食べようが一切た食べなかろうがどうでも構わないんだけど…でも、穹までそうさせるわけにはいかない。

I'm guessing 穹 is someone's name?

Yeah, it's read as そら.

Es2Kay Wrote:君は中々筋がいいね。でもプロになりたいらな、ちゃんとレッスンを受けた方がいい。

what is らな in なりたいらな ??

My guess is "typo for なら"...

Can someone help with this word(s?) from キノの旅?

一人目
Ｃｏｎｔｅｘｔ　そして太陽が一番高く昇る頃《ころ》、一人目の男に出会った。

Can someone also tell me what the correct meaning of 間 is when referring to a physical space. e.g. レールの間に入れて.

Splatted Wrote:Can someone help with this word(s?) from キノの旅?

一人目
Ｃｏｎｔｅｘｔ　そして太陽が一番高く昇る頃《ころ》、一人目の男に出会った。

Can someone also tell me what the correct meaning of 間 is when referring to a physical space. e.g. レールの間に入れて.

一人目　'first person' so "一人目の男” means that man was the first person he/she met.

レールの間 means 'between the rails/railings'

Thanks pudding cat

I meant to ask what is the correct reading of 間 is when referring to a physical space. e.g. レールの間に入れて.

And one more question; is 一人目 read ひとりめ？

Splatted Wrote:I meant to ask what is the correct reading of 間 is when referring to a physical space. e.g. レールの間に入れて.

あいだ。

Quote:And one more question; is 一人目 read ひとりめ？

Yep.

Thanks Astendra ^^

Looks like it's time for another question! I get the feeling I'll be a regular asker on this thread.

It seems weird but I found a webpage detailing some fan theories for a freeware game called Yume Nikki, and I'm translating it because I'm bored.

Can anyone translate this sentence for me or at least tell me what they're talking about? No matter how many times I read it I just end up scratching my head.

不死の体をもつため星が滅んでも施設から逃げ出し生き続けている。

If it doesn't make any sense, here it is in context.

火星さん、と呼ばれる生き物は地下の実験施設で作られた人造生物。
不死の体をもつため星が滅んでも施設から逃げ出し生き続けている。
大きすぎる体のため外に上がる事が出来ず、死ねない事と孤独を嘆いて涙を流している。

Thank you so much!

moomoox2 Wrote:Looks like it's time for another question! I get the feeling I'll be a regular asker on this thread.

It seems weird but I found a webpage detailing some fan theories for a freeware game called Yume Nikki, and I'm translating it because I'm bored.

Can anyone translate this sentence for me or at least tell me what they're talking about? No matter how many times I read it I just end up scratching my head.

不死の体をもつため星が滅んでも施設から逃げ出し生き続けている。

Because he is immortal, even though the star/planet got destroyed, he was able to escape from the facility and continues to live.

Ah. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you very much! :)

回れ右
(n) right about-face？