By mutual consent

We Japanese call a wall socket/outlet "コンセント (consent(o))"

I had no idea that the word "コンセント (consent)"  is
a Japanese-English (Japanglish ) until today.


I thought the word "consent" described a socket/outlet exactly.

Like...

A socket/outlet  and a plug connect with each other by mutual consent!

They say, the Japanese name, コンセント (consento), comes from "concentric plug,"
which may also be scarcely used in english speaking countries.


--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

Oh-oh

I liked the book "Vocabolarietto italiano" I wrote about the other day.

Sigh...

I remember I glanced over the book on the train coming back from work.

I got off, bought bread, got on a bus, and took a seat.

Then I realized I did not have the book.

A mystery..

Or may be I was too relaxed...


--To read this post in Japanese, click here. 

A walk in the snow

It is fun to walk in the snow, if it is a short distance.

It has snowed a lot in Tokyo today.

We Japanese say "snow falls" instead of "it snows."

<with formal subject>

English: it snows

Dutch: het sneeuwt

German: es schneit

French: il neige

<without subject>

Spanish: nieva

Italian: nevica

<snow + falls>

Japanese: 雪が降る (yuki ga huru)

Korean: 눈이 내린다

Chinese: 下雪

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

consonant cluster

When I first started to learn English,
I was confused to find that some consonants lie side by side
in a English word without sandwiching a vowel between them.
For example, "s," "p," and "r" lie side by side in "spring."
This scarcely occurs in a Japanese word.

Such a group of consonant sitting side by side is called

"consonant cluster."

They say that Italian language is easy for Japanese people
to pronounce.
I guess one of the reasons is a consonant cluster in an Italian
word is shorter than that in an English word.

In Italian word, sometimes,
a consonant is skipped with staccato rhythm.
And sometimes,

English: n + s + t  (constitution)
Italian: s + t   (costituzione)

English: n + c + t  (instinct)
Italian: n + t   (istinto)

a consonant just disappears without a word.
Sad, though easy...

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

Love Japanese mix

At a cafe called St. Marc (sounds like Italian) in Japan,

they have cappuccino, caffe latte (Originally from Italy),

American coffee (Originally from the USA),

yuzu-cha (Originally from Korea),

Vietnam coffee (Originally from Vietnam),

maccha-presso (at least "maccha" is from Japan),

and Croissant (Originally from France).

I like how Japanese people mix cultures.

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert

Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert was conducted by
Mr. Welser-Möst.

First I got an impression of him as an elegant serious type.

In a middle of a tune, he took a stuffed animal from a box and
handed it to a performer who had just played a solo part.
He continued with a goose, an elephant, a viking cap, a wood spoon, etc.
He finished the tune with a chef cap on his head and
a wood spoon in his hand.

It was fun.

Japanese: ぬいぐるみ Nuigurumi

Korean： 봉제　인형 (縫製人形)

English: stuffed toy

Chinese： 充填玩具

French: peluches
"peluche" means plush.

Italian: animali di peluche
animals of plush

German: Kuscheltiere
"kuscheln" means to snuggle.

Dutch: knuffeltje
"knuffelen" means to hug.

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.