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Shoshikantetsu

asnewman.github.io

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Re: Shoshikantetsu

#41

Post by glandium »

mcqueenjordan wrote: post #2

Very nice, I also like the other yojijukugo displayed at the bottom, especially jyuunintoiro. I enjoy (what I perceive as) the subtle wordplay of having two different readings of the same character (ten) in the word, hinting at the sort of "more than one way to skin a cat" theme of the word. Literally, the characters are "ten people ten colors", but the two "tens" are read differently: "jyuu" and "to" respectively, b…

Some that I like:

一石二鳥 (issekinichou ; literally: one stone, two birds ; I'll let you guess the meaning (yes, it's very close to an expression in English))

自業自得 (jigoujitoku ; reap what you sow)

自作自演 (jisakujien ; self-made self-staged ; for example, used for the act of creating a staged situation and then acting as if it were genuine)

自問自答 (jimonjitou ; answering one's own question)

自暴自棄 (jiboujiki ; self-abandonment)

自画自賛 (jigajisan ; singing one's own praises)

自給自足 (jikyuujisoku ; self-sufficiency)

自由自在 (jiyuujizai ; free/unrestricted)

(Yeah, I have a thing for the 自◯自◯ ones)

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#42

Post by rjh29 »

labster wrote: post #6
rippercushions wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some sense yojijukugo are the original memes, in that they can be riffed off for humorous purposes. For example, the Japanese idiom for "the strong devour the weak" is 弱肉強食 jakuniku kyuushoku (the meat of the weak is the food of the strong), but you can instead say 焼肉定食 yakuniku teishoku (lit. grilled meat set meal) for laughs, and rakugo comedian Jakusaburo Katsura released an album called 雀肉共食 jakuniku kyuushoku…

Japanese is a wonderful language for puns. Not only do they have homophone puns (so many homophones) and rhyming puns, but also visual puns like Katamari Damacy 塊魂.

I like words where one kanji is changed to make the meaning opposite (without changing the pronounciation)

名演 (great acting performance) -> 迷演 (baffling performance)

国道 (highway) -> 酷道 (road in terrible condition)

There are also some horrible ones like 毒女(独女) and 害人（外人）

Also 休館日 (museum holiday day) -> 休肝日 ("give your liver a rest day" - i.e. sober day)

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#43

Post by throwaway290 »

krackers wrote: post #7

Beyond idiomatic yojijukugo (or perhaps because of it?), 4 mora abbreviations seems to be really common in Japanese. E.g. "debadora" for "device driver" [1] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23798995

Similarly in Chinese languages there are many such 4-character stable phrases. Might not be a coincidence.

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#44

Post by nullsense »

rippercushions wrote: post #4
mcqueenjordan wrote: post #2

Very nice, I also like the other yojijukugo displayed at the bottom, especially jyuunintoiro. I enjoy (what I perceive as) the subtle wordplay of having two different readings of the same character (ten) in the word, hinting at the sort of "more than one way to skin a cat" theme of the word. Literally, the characters are "ten people ten colors", but the two "tens" are read differently: "jyuu" and "to" respectively, b…

In some sense yojijukugo are the original memes, in that they can be riffed off for humorous purposes. For example, the Japanese idiom for "the strong devour the weak" is 弱肉強食 jakuniku kyuushoku (the meat of the weak is the food of the strong), but you can instead say 焼肉定食 yakuniku teishoku (lit. grilled meat set meal) for laughs, and rakugo comedian Jakusaburo Katsura released an album called 雀肉共食 jakuniku kyuushoku…

I always joke with my wife that my favorite yojijukugo are 問題解決 and 安全第一 which are literally just "problem solving" and "safety first" haha.

My favorite actual yojijukugo is 点滴穿石 which water dripping on a stone in the same spot slowly wears it away, which just means if you keep doing what you're doing you will eventually make some noticeable progress in the long run.

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#45

Post by glandium »

rjh29 wrote: post #42
labster wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japanese is a wonderful language for puns. Not only do they have homophone puns (so many homophones) and rhyming puns, but also visual puns like Katamari Damacy 塊魂.

I like words where one kanji is changed to make the meaning opposite (without changing the pronounciation) 名演 (great acting performance) -> 迷演 (baffling performance) 国道 (highway) -> 酷道 (road in terrible condition) There are also some horrible ones like 毒女(独女) and 害人（外人） Also 休館日 (museum holiday day) -> 休肝日 ("give your liver a rest day" - i.e. sober day)

It's not actually a pun (at least, AFAIK), but interestingly, 肛門 (anus) is an homophone of 後門 (back gate).

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#47

Post by barrenko »

The other posts on the blog are great as well. I've set out to make some tiny projects myself this year, and it's going better than I've imagined.

There are no big homeruns, but I feel like a different kind of person.

To paraphrase "Build what you can (and love), until you love to build."

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#48

Post by tempestn »

I really like this. At some point fairly early in my life, teenage years I think, I decided that it is a fact that anything I commit to myself that I'll do, I will indeed do. I don't recall exactly when or how it happened, but I do know it's something consciously decided was the case.

As far as I could tell at the time, it had been true for any "serious" commitments thus far, and it's kind of a comforting feeling that if something is in your control, and you decide to do it, it will happen. Having made that affirmation, it because somewhat self-reinforcing, because even when something got hard, I didn't want to break the streak, and thereby... I guess, no longer be able to rely on myself in the same way. I think it's meant both that I'm somewhat careful about what I truly commit to myself to do, but also that I always have extra motivation when I do. (And of course, some degree of after-the-fact rationalization helps too; I'm sure I've consciously let myself off the hook on occasion when the situation changes.)

Anyway, that's a lot of rambling to basically say I think I've been practicing shoshikantetsu most of my life without knowing the term.

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#49

Post by Dalewyn »

creakingstairs wrote: post #37

Sharing some Korean Yojijukugos (originating from China) 위록지마(謂鹿止馬) wii rok ji ma To point at a deer and call it a horse. Used for suck ups who says agrees to things that are clearly not right. 읍참마속(泣斬馬謖) ub cham ma sok To behead Ma Su (name) while crying. In the Romance of Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang had to behead his favourite general Ma Su as he wept because Ma Su ignored the given command resulting in losing the…

>Sharing some Korean Yojijukugos (originating from China)

This is neither here nor there, but you have me in stitches for using Japanese to refer to Chinese sayings to describe Korean (sub)culture.

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#50

Post by creakingstairs »

Dalewyn wrote: post #49
creakingstairs wrote: post #37

Sharing some Korean Yojijukugos (originating from China) 위록지마(謂鹿止馬) wii rok ji ma To point at a deer and call it a horse. Used for suck ups who says agrees to things that are clearly not right. 읍참마속(泣斬馬謖) ub cham ma sok To behead Ma Su (name) while crying. In the Romance of Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang had to behead his favourite general Ma Su as he wept because Ma Su ignored the given command resulting in losing the…

>Sharing some Korean Yojijukugos (originating from China) This is neither here nor there, but you have me in stitches for using Japanese to refer to Chinese sayings to describe Korean (sub)culture.

Haha, I did think about using the Korean word instead but just decided to go with the flow. East Asian culture is so intertwined, it's a pity we all have such a love-hate relationship with each other.
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