Originally published at: A 7.3-magnitude earthquake hits Fukushima area of Japan | Boing Boing
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Don’t mess with the obake.
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They now know the perfect place to build a nuclear reactor, oh wait a minute…
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Any japanese speakers here that could tell what the exclamation was that the women was saying repeatedly in the first video?
I just know if it was me I would be saying “crap! crap!..”
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In the comments under the twitter post someone said she was saying “why is this one so strong”.
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Sooooo… Godzilla awakens now? Sure, why not?
Evidently there were two back to back, I heard.
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Having been in a downtown Oakland office building during the Loma Prieta earthquake, I can relate to this.
Up until then, I had never been fazed by an earthquake - since then, they all freak me out.
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Sure, why not. Just more shit we don´t need.
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Thus sounds like a track by Tom Waits. I hope that everyone is okay, and that there isn’t a lot of property damage.
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Yes, as has been pointed out above, she says, “大丈夫かこれ？ウソ！なんでこんな強いの？強い。強い。強い。なんでこんな強いの？”
In romaji: “Daijobu ka, kore? Uso! Nande konna tsuyoi no? Tsuyoi. Tsuyoi. Tsuyoi. Nande konna tsuyoi no.”
Which means: “Is it gonna be okay? No way! Why is it so strong. It’s strong. It’s strong. It’s strong. Why is it so strong?”
Every other word out of her mouth is “えっ？” (“eh,” but with a sharp cutoff), which is just an interjection of surprise and confusion.
I have translated Uso as “No way,” but it means “lie” and is just a general expression of disbelief.
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thank you for that insight - think what I was hearing was that repeated “eh” sound which I wondered if it was a word, but apparently an expression of surprise.
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I should ask while I have somebody that understands Japanese - regarding that non-word exclamation –– I have an impression that this its quite common in Japanese. I watch a bit of NKH network as the cultural and travel programming is quite fascinating. But I notice that when speaking there appears to be a lot of “guttural” expression that does not appear to be “words”. Typical situations that english speakers might understand is a cooking show where one or more are making a “yum” type of sound. But I hear these sounds in other situations expressing agreement, or wonder, or surprise.
I suppose that english speakers do this as well, but the Japanese seem to be more forward and expressive with these. Any insights?
Chris Broad weighs in:
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Well, I’m thinking she bolstered any string o’ boyfriends she has going.
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There are a lot of filler words that crop up in non-scripted conversation.
うん or ああ (Un or Ah): “Yeah”
あれ？ (Are): “Huh” or “What the?”
ふーん (Fuun): “Hmm”
えーと (Ehto): “Umm”
なんか (Nanka): “Like”
だな (Dana): “I guess so.” or “Yeah”
だよな (Dayona): “Makes sense.” or “Of course.”
すごい (Sugoi): “Wow.”
None of these are direct translations; I am just trying to come up with what an English speaker would say in the same way. In Japanese, it is considered rude to just listen to somebody silently, so one will often chime in with words of agreement or understanding. Words used to chime in like this are called “aizuchi.”
Here’s a Wikipedia page on aizuchi.
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thanks so much for those insights into the manners and speech practices. I’m relieved that I wasn’t imagining it!
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