Takashi's Japanese Dictionary

A blog for learning Japanese that introduces Japanese slang words and Idioms!

Classic Japanese Puns (Dajare, ダジャレ) You Should Know

This post introduces classic “dajare”, i.e. Japanese puns that you can use to give your Japanese friends a barrel of laughs; or cringes. The dajares are selected by me (Takashi) in the eyes of a native speaker (some of them are not very famous). 布団が吹っ飛んだ Yomi: futon ga futton da Meaning: “Futon was blown away” This is probably the most famous dajare among all generations and almost all Japanese people should know it. アルミ缶の上にあるミカン Yomi: arumikan no ue ni aru mikan Meaning: “A mandarin orange that is on the aluminium can” This one is also very famous and well done. マスカラつけてますから！ Yomi: masukara tsukete masu kara Meaning: “Coz I’m wearing…Read More

Differences Between 切る (kiru) and 尽くす (tsukusu) as Suffix

Meaning of 切る 切る (kiru) generally means “to cut”, as in 野菜やさいを切る means “cut vegetables”. It also means “turn/switch off (an electronic device)”, as in “携帯電話けいたいでんわの電源でんげんを切る” means “switch off a mobile phone”. Meaning of 尽くす 尽くす (tsukus) means “to devote oneself” as in 彼女に尽くす means “devote oneself to one’s girlfriend”. It also means “to dedicate (everything)”, as in 全力を尽くす means “dedicate all power/energy one has” and ベスト/最善さいぜんを尽くす means “do one’s best”. Meaning of 切る and 尽くす as Suffix Both 切る and 尽くす are used as suffix and combined with verbs (e.g. やり切る/やり尽くす) to add the sense of “completely”. However, there are some differences as follows: 切る often emphasises the sense…Read More