Re: なんじゃこりゃー

B. Ito wrote:
"Phil" <phil.yff@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1152884130.888322.276250@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Kouji Ueshiba wrote:
"Bart Mathias" <mathias@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:PaGdnRGLl4AsZSvZnZ2dnUVZ_qidnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For me 巷では was the hard part. I'm losing it faster and faster.

まあ、「ちまた・では」でしょうね。

上 柴 公 二

meredeth wrote:
well, i'm back to reading some blogs, and i came across the following
sentence which has confused me. it seems like it shouldn't but it does.
it's one of those cases where i think i know all the words, but somehow
they don't want to fit together.

巷では大流行りらしく、なんとCDまで
発売されているみたいですが・・・。

something like, "it seems to be a big hit with the public," and then it
all falls to pieces in my head.

Without knowing the exact context that might cause me to refine the
translation, this is my reading of the comment:

It seems to be quite the rage around town. What a CD!
And it appears that it has just hit the stands...

Romaji:
Chimata de wa dairyuukou rashiku, nanto CD made
Hatsubai sarete iru mitai desu ga...

Notes:

The first word, 巷 (ちまた - chimata) normally means street or
section of town. However, in the phrase 巷では (ちまたでは -
chimata de wa) it means public, public opinion, etc. You frequently
see the phrase, ちまたのうわさでは (chimata no uwasa de wa)
meaning, "rumor has it," "there's a rumor going around town", "everyone
around town is saying," etc. Note that I've used hiragana here which
is quite common because 巷 (kun reading: ちまた - chimata; on
reading: こう - kou) is a non-jouyou kanji.

You already know that 大流行 (だいりゅうこう - dairyuukou)
in this context means big hit, fad, craze, etc. I'm quite comfortable
with your translation, "It seems to be a big hit with the public." I
just thought I'd give a slightly more colloquial twist in keeping with
the conversational tone of the comment.

The phrase なんと...まで (nan to ... made) is an interjection.
You hear it often by announcers of sporting events - what a hit! what a
shot [on goal]!

発売 (はつばい - hatsubai) means sale. In the construct
発売される (はつばいされる - hatsubai sareru) it means put
on sale or (since the above comment was very colloquial) hit the
stands.

Anybody who can read the kanji/kana in the above comment probably
already understands みたいですが (mitai desu ga) but I'll explain
it anyway for the sake of completeness. Here, みたい (mitai) is a
more colloquial way of saying のよう (no you) and means "appears",
"resembles", "looks like", etc. The final が (ga meaning 'but') I did
not translate. It's a softener to make the comment less assertive as
if to say, "but, do you agree?"

By the way, what CD was the blogger talking about?

Mata ato de,

Phil Yff

---------------------------------------------------------------
I'm very interested in Phil's post here, too.

First of all, you must have missed one hiragana "り" after "大流行."

、、、が大流行りしている。 （おおはやり）
、、、が大流行している。 （だいりゅうこう）
、、、が大流行だ。 （だいりゅうこう） and may be （おおはやり）

In the second place, I'm not sure either what CD the blogger was talking
about?
However, if asked, I feel I may be able to figure what it would roughly be
about
This is becasue the Japanese is my mother tongue.

巷では、is sure to mean not "everywhere" but a local place or a rather
limited
area or among some groups. So the CD must not be a regular CD but seems to
be a special one like some hobby groups' songs or some hurray-hurray songs.

なんと、、、、、まで、 is sure to mean abnormal cases.
、、、みたいです、 is sure to mean the blogger hasn't confirmed himself but
must have learned the news from someone or somewhere.

So the CD's contents can't be Misora Hibari's songs or Kitajima Saburou's
enkas. The recorded contents may be a collection of various frogs'
rendez-vous
choruses or calls interested among frog maniacs. I'm not one, though.

-------------------------------
B. Ito

Yes, I'm sorry, I did miss the hiragana "り" after "大流行." I
saw it as soon as I read the comments I'd posted and immediately posted
a correction.

You've probably seen Juha Myllari's post and my response. I'd be
interested in what you think of it. I actually favor Juha Myllari's
interpretation over my own. I think it is also consistent with your
view that the comment refers to a relatively small local scene.

You wanted to talk about 巷 (ちまた). What a great opportunity to
give an example from my favorite Manga - Rurouni Kenshin - a good place
to pick up esoteric terms like 御稜威 (Miitsu - みいつ - the
Emperor's exalted virtue) that we've discussed elsewhere. Anyway,
Kaoru grabs Yahiko after he picks Kenshin's pocket and this exchange
takes place:

弥彦: ちくしょう！ 離せこのブス！！
薫: ブ... 失礼ね
これでも巷じゃ剣術小町って呼ばれてんのよ！

Yahiko: (S--t!) Let go of me you ugly ---!!
Kaoru: Ug... How rude
I'm widely referred to around here as the beauty queen of
swordfighting.

Unlike you, Japanese is not my mother tongue, so I would defer to your
judgement. However, the Kojien gives 世間 (せけん - seken) ,
the world, society, people, the public as one meaning for 巷
(ちまた). I admit this is the fourth and last meaning given. The
previous meanings refer to streets, locales, sections of town, etc. I
also read in the newspapers all the time where the term
巷の声 (ちまたのこえ - chimata no koe) is used to refer to
public opinion both locally and throughout Japan.

I would suggest that it is the context that determines the scope
associated with the phrase 巷では. But, as I said earlier, I am not
a native speaker and will defer to your judgement if you tell me that
it is inappropriate to use 巷では when referring to all of Tokyo or
all of Japan.

Mata ato de,

Phil Yff

.

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