*GIBBER*

[arkster]

AAAAAAHHH. I LOVE JAPANESE SO MUCH. FUCK. I LOVE THIS LANGUAGE.

So there's this word that means GOING UP. Ok? Ok. And there's a line that was translated as, "The Empire's made me a rich man." To which the response was "Don't be so selfish."

I give the Japanese a once-over and it uses the word 'business' and that word that means GOING UP, in an informal but not unusual conjugation. And I think 'ok, that was translated just fine', and move on to the response. Which turns out to be, roughly, "It's not just you. Other people are suffering too."

wate wut

So I go back to that one word that means going up. And I notice that it is not using its kanji, a very simple kanji (上) that in fact takes less space and effort than the kana that is actually THERE. And I think to myself, 'huh. I wonder if it is not actually the word that means going up in a particular conjugation, but in fact a different word altogether that only LOOKS like this verb was conjugated informally. Perhaps, for example, a word that means GOING DOWN.'

Two seconds of research later, I discover:

a) It means 'poor business'.
b) IT USES THE 'GOING UP' KANJI ANYWAY.

LOLLERSKAAAAATES.

Comments

[myshu.livejournal.com]

WTF, Japan. WTF.

[arks.livejournal.com]

see, I'm really amused because I seem to have gotten to the point where I EXPECT this shit. I go, "Okay, this is what fits in context" and then assume that that meaning MUST fit whatever's actually written. And then it just turns out that it does, in spite of all appearances to the contrary. XDDD.