Fujii Kaze · Japanese · 28 words
HELP EVER HURT NEVER, Part 1
HELP EVER HURT NEVER (2020) is Fujii Kaze's debut and the most conversational Japanese on this shelf - much of it in Okayama dialect. Nan-Nan and Mo-Eh-Wa are people talking, not poetry, and Tsumi no Kaori supplies an unusually clean run of self-control vocabulary: 怠惰, 理性, 耐え難い, 藻掻く.
Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 否か | whether or not (いなか) | 行くか否か決めかねている。I can't decide whether to go or not. |
| 肥溜め | a cesspit (こえだめ) | 昔は畑の隅に肥溜めがあった。There used to be a cesspit at the edge of the field. |
| 大胆 | bold, daring (だいたん) | 大胆な配色の絵だ。It's a painting with bold colouring. |
| 慎重 | cautious, careful (しんちょう) | 慎重に言葉を選んだ。I chose my words carefully. |
| 真っさら | brand new, completely blank (まっさら) | 真っさらなノートを開いた。I opened a brand-new notebook. |
| 捉われる | to be caught up in, to be bound by (とらわれる) | 形式に捉われる必要はない。There's no need to be bound by form. |
| 手放す | to let go of, to part with (てばなす) | 思い出の品を手放した。I parted with a treasured item. |
| 夜更け | late at night (よふけ) | 夜更けまで作業が続いた。The work went on late into the night. |
| 閉ざす | to shut, to close off (とざす) | 彼は固く心を閉ざしている。He has firmly closed off his heart. |
| 泥沼 | a quagmire, a mess (どろぬま) | 交渉が泥沼化している。The negotiations have become a quagmire. |
| 踏みしめる | to tread firmly on (ふみしめる) | 落ち葉を踏みしめて歩いた。I walked, treading firmly on the fallen leaves. |
| 木陰 | the shade of a tree (こかげ) | 木陰でしばらく休んだ。I rested a while in the shade of a tree. |
| 眼差し | a gaze, a look (まなざし) | 温かい眼差しで見守っていた。She watched over them with a warm gaze. |
| 呼び覚ます | to awaken, to call forth (よびさます) | その匂いが記憶を呼び覚ました。The smell called up a memory. |
| 凍える | to freeze, to be numb with cold (こごえる) | 指先が凍えて動かない。My fingertips are numb with cold. |
| 子羊 | a lamb (こひつじ) | 牧場で子羊が生まれた。A lamb was born on the farm. |
| 月日 | days and months, the passage of time (つきひ) | 月日が経つのは早い。Time passes quickly. |
| 引きずる | to drag, to drag out (ひきずる) | 過去の失敗を引きずっている。He's still dragging past failures around. |
| 舵を切る | to change course (かじをきる) | 会社は方針の舵を切った。The company changed the direction of its policy. |
| 未開 | undeveloped, uncharted (みかい) | 未開の地を探検したい。I want to explore uncharted land. |
| 怠惰 | idleness, sloth (たいだ) | 怠惰な習慣を改めたい。I want to reform my idle habits. |
| 理性 | reason, self-control (りせい) | 理性を保って対応した。I kept my reason and dealt with it. |
| 耐え難い | unbearable (たえがたい) | 耐え難い暑さが続いている。Unbearable heat continues. |
| 藻掻く | to struggle, to flounder (もがく) | 水中で藻掻いてしまった。I floundered in the water. |
| 無味無臭 | tasteless and odourless (むみむしゅう) | その気体は無味無臭で危険だ。That gas is odourless and tasteless, hence dangerous. |
| 瀬戸際 | the critical moment, the brink (せとぎわ) | 存続の瀬戸際に立たされている。They stand on the brink of survival. |
| 見栄 | vanity, keeping up appearances (みえ) | 見栄を張るのはやめよう。Let's stop putting on a show. |
| 見せかけ | a pretence, an outward show (みせかけ) | 見せかけの好意だと気づいた。I realised the goodwill was a pretence. |
More from Fujii Kaze
Study "HELP EVER HURT NEVER, Part 1" in the app
Import all 28 words in one tap. Lanma schedules the reviews, plays the pronunciation, and puts you on air to use them in a live voice conversation.
