Can't do without

  In our day to day conversation very many times we use the

 expression " can't do without "  in English and of course in 

our mother tongue , very fluently but when it comes to 

expressing them in Japanese some where we get stuck .

For many South Indians コーヒー is an essential thing and 

they cannot live without it.

Some are having so much liking for non-veg that they cannot 

eat food without  a non veg  おかず.

 To tell that in Japanese we should use the expression

なしで生きられない.

  Now it is hot sun outside and we should ensure that we 

 avoid exposing ourselves to sun rays .

さらされないように (人）を保護するis the general  

expression meaning protecting oneself by avoiding exposure 

to something . ( by taking umbrella .)

 It is said that the secondary smokers are prone to terminal

diseases like cancer . Hence one should avoid the proximity 

to the smokers as much as possible . Such kind of thinking 

goes in our mind  but have some 

difficulty in properly expressing that in Japanese.

·         なるべく他人のたばこの煙にさらされないようにする.

avoid as far as possible exposing  your self to other people's 

smoke.

 Now -a-days the  messages  created in memes ,whats App 

messages ,twitters , face-book posts are so interesting and 

sometimes we feel how smartly they have given thought to 

such  incredible creations .

(作るの)が信じられないほどうまい.

 They are unbelievably creative .

 Some of them so nice that 忘れられないほどうまい.

  So interesting that we cannot forget them .

 But  be  careful  that   溺れ込まないように　注意　して

　ください　as it kills time .

So do not get addicted to them.

コーヒー( coffee)

  おかず- -side dish

生きる -いきる to live

なしで生きられない  can't live without

保護 - ほご  protection, 

さらす    to expose

他人  たにん  another person

煙 けむり smoke, 

おぼれこむ get  drowned, to get addicted

注意 ちゅうい be careful, attention 

溺れ込　まないように　注意　して　ください　

 Be careful  not to get addicted to them 

Eyes and Japanese

 We all know very well 目 (め) means eye . 


 But we do so many things with eye  most of our awakening time , but when we want to express those things in Japanese , we somehow have difficulty , though we may know all the connected words to express them ,and do not know which word should be put first and which in the last and what particle to be used .
  So some of the common activities which we do with eyes are dealt with and please make use of them in your day to day activities .

 As soon as we get up , we brush the teeth and wash our eyes and washing the eyes  is not 目を洗う　（めをあらう）. it is 目をすすぐ
wash  one's eye. すすぐ means rinsing and cleaning and similarly washing the mouth also 口 ( くち)　を　すすぐ.. ( a sort of better cleaning than mere washing )

  You might have observed that infants sometimes feel sleepy but they  do not want to  shut their eyes and sleep for various reasons .
( either to play or to be with their parents who has just come from their work place ). That time they will rub their eyes little bit harshly  as if they are asking sleep to go away . Adults do so in the class room when they feel sleepy . This action of rubbing the eyes to ward off sleep is called 目をこすって眠気を覚ます rub sleep out of one's eyes.
　
こする　 means rub .

 眠気 (ねむけ)means   sleepy feeling 

覚ます (さます) is to awaken,

 The meaning for the whole phrase is  keeping oneself awake by rubbing the eyes.

 Quite number of times we will be searching for something and often as far as  our eyes  can see it is not found .
 To say that  you should say 

目の届く限り　
as far as one can see
as far as the eye can travel 

届く とどく  is to reach, 

限り かぎり means as far as possible,  to the best of one's ability.


 I am  not discussing all the activities  we make with eye as it will  make the blog too long and  if it is all comprehensive  ,the general tendency is to keep it  as a reference and read and used only when it is required .
 Please use these phrases when you do these activities or others do them.

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Similar expressions of Japanese words and Tamil words -1

 Japanese being  one of the South East Asian language has  words which has a similar meaning in one word  in Tamil  which  is also an Asian language (which has an equivalent  single word .)

 As far as my  too little  knowledge of Tamil English and Japanese goes it is not easy to find a singular word  which is an equivalent of the  pair language .

 Many times it  ends in a situation of long -winded  or even you can call it as circumlocution but may not  express the succinct or real meaning of the word .

 A mere translation of word to word may not convey the feeling and emotions of  the word in the  source language.

 For example in Tamil to scold a person we may call him as" Erumai  Erumai " repeatedly . 

This is not just a  derogatory word scolding as an animal which is not having the sixth sense . 

 We actually mean that as well as much more , like sloth and  a person who remains insensitive even to the  highest danger or a thing which demands  maximum seriousness.

 If you scold a person as "Buffalo  Buffalo " in English it will not be very effective , and our target of provoking the other person may not be achieved .

  There is a word called " Siruvaadu"சிறுவாடு  in Tamil which means the secret savings which  the ladies in the house hold save without the knowledge of their  husband or anybody in the family . This done to meet the unexpected finance crunch of the family . Since men are considered as spend thrift ,women used to indulge in this type of secret savings .  ( Though it is a topic worthy enough for a wide debate ,let us avoid it as our purpose it not that ).

If it is translated as " Secret savings " in English  it will not convey the exact  meaning  and emotions of the word , so we have to use so many words to express or explain the meaning of  the word . rather it becomes too verbose.

I mean there is no  single word equivalent in English where as in Japanese it is  known as へそくり.

Definition  of へそくりis as below.

主婦などが、他人に知られないように少しずつためた金。へそくり。

 Meaning :  The  little money saved by the house wife   so that it is not known to others .

Definition . In Hindi it is known as  गुप्त बचत  but it has a wider meaning covering all kinds of secret money held by any person .

 ( Both men as well as women and in money invested in India and  the money invested secretly abroad too ).

Rain in Japanese

 Most of us like rain for various reasons .

 Even in Thirukkural   ( A Tamil EPIC )also immediately after 

 offering prayer   to God , Thiruvalluvar writes about rain.

Many rain songs are famous in Hindi as well as in the regional languages. “Rim Jhim Gire Sawan “ is an immortal song (acting by Amitab bachan and Moushmi chatterjee.)

 

 So I have decided  on the theme as RAIN.

 

Of course , many of you know that it is(雨 )あめ in Japanese .

 

Most of the  time we just do not stick on to one expression ie rain .

 

 Some times it is only light rain ,where one can skip taking an umbrella and avoid forgetting it. 

That is called as微雨       びう light rain. 

微 is small insignificant.

 If the rain is heavy as it was in Dec 2015 in Chennai and 

Cuddalore  it is known as豪雨         ごうう     heavy rain.

That time there was a continuous rain  (Spelling eternal doom)

and daily the weather man spelling danger of heavy rain which 

made even the LKG kids to watch the weather report   making 

them to take diversion from  cartoon channels.

 That kind of  continuous rain is  expressed  as

 雨続き   あめつづき   raining for days on end.  

Please  do not confuse this with the    a long spell of rain on a particular day . This  is長雨     ながあめ.

If exams are postponed due to rain  it gives temporary relief and it is雨天延期     うてんえんき   postponed because of rain. 

But in   December JLPT2015  exam was cancelled in Chennai  .It is  known by the expression雨天中止    うてんちゅうし  cancelled because of rain.

 Because of the rain only we are getting food  and 

rain comes with sound and  a after the rain a fine  smell  too 

comes as a free gift..

雨声 うせい  is  the sound of rain which make us to run to the  terrace   where  the clothes are dried .

Quite often the smell of the earth immediately after rain is liked by all of us and it is大地の雨上がりの匂い.

 Praying  for  rain is a custom prevailing in various countries and in various modalities .  (conducting  a marriage for the donkeys  also is there ). 雨乞い          あまごい    is praying for rain.

   Too much stuffing spoil the taste of Samosa  ( a Snack of India).  So we will learn it in the subsequent blogs.