Official HIGE DANdism · Japanese · 31 words
MAN IN THE MIRROR
MAN IN THE MIRROR (2016) is the EP where Higedan's writing settled into its lane: office-worker melancholy set to bright piano pop. Coffee to Syrup is a whole lesson in swallowing things at work - 憂い, やり過ごす, ふがいない, 威張る - and Nichiyoubi no Love Letter supplies the small domestic nouns: 昼下がり, 秒針, 破片.
Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 躓く | to stumble, to trip up (つまずく) | 石に躓いて転びそうになった。I tripped on a stone and nearly fell. |
| しぶとい | stubborn, tenacious, hard to shake | この汚れはしぶとくて落ちない。This stain is stubborn and won't come out. |
| 劣等感 | an inferiority complex (れっとうかん) | 兄と比べられて劣等感を抱いた。Being compared with my brother gave me an inferiority complex. |
| 報われる | to be rewarded, to pay off (むくわれる) | 長年の努力がようやく報われた。Years of effort finally paid off. |
| 退屈 | boredom, tedium (たいくつ) | 退屈な会議が二時間も続いた。The tedious meeting went on for two hours. |
| 注ぐ | to pour (そそぐ) | グラスにお茶を注いだ。I poured tea into the glass. |
| 憂い | sorrow, anxiety, care (うれい) | その顔には憂いの色があった。There was a shade of sorrow in his face. |
| やり過ごす | to let pass, to ride out (やりすごす) | 混雑した電車を一本やり過ごした。I let one crowded train go by. |
| ふがいない | spineless, pathetic, disappointing | ふがいない結果に終わった。It ended in a disappointing result. |
| 威張る | to throw one's weight around (いばる) | 少し出世しただけで威張っている。He throws his weight around over a small promotion. |
| 堪える | to endure, to hold back (こらえる) | 笑いを堪えるのに苦労した。I struggled to hold back my laughter. |
| 斜に構える | to take a cynical or oblique stance (しゃにかまえる) | 彼は何事にも斜に構えている。He takes a cynical view of everything. |
| 履き潰す | to wear shoes out completely (はきつぶす) | この靴はもう履き潰した。I've completely worn these shoes out. |
| 人知れず | unknown to anyone, in secret (ひとしれず) | 彼女は人知れず努力を重ねた。She built up her efforts where no one could see. |
| 思いやる | to be considerate of, to feel for (おもいやる) | 相手の立場を思いやってほしい。I'd like you to consider the other person's position. |
| 点滅 | blinking, flashing (てんめつ) | 非常灯が点滅している。The emergency light is flashing. |
| 去り際 | the moment of leaving, one's exit (さりぎわ) | 去り際の一言が印象に残った。His parting remark stayed with me. |
| ぼやける | to blur, to go out of focus | 涙で視界がぼやけた。Tears blurred my vision. |
| 欠片 | a fragment, a shard (かけら) | 割れた皿の欠片を拾った。I picked up the shards of the broken plate. |
| 最愛 | most beloved, dearest (さいあい) | 最愛の人を見送った。She saw off the person she loved most. |
| 読み返す | to reread, to read over again (よみかえす) | 書いた手紙を何度も読み返した。I reread the letter I'd written many times. |
| 煽る | to fan, to stir up, to whip up (あおる) | その報道は不安を煽っている。That coverage is stirring up anxiety. |
| 比例 | proportion, being proportional (ひれい) | 収入に比例して税金も増える。Tax rises in proportion to income. |
| 抑え込む | to hold down, to suppress (おさえこむ) | 怒りを抑え込んで話を続けた。I suppressed my anger and carried on talking. |
| 見送る | to see someone off, to pass on (an option) (みおくる) | 駅まで友人を見送った。I saw my friend off at the station. |
| 昼下がり | early afternoon (ひるさがり) | 昼下がりの公園は静かだった。The park was quiet in the early afternoon. |
| 急かす | to hurry someone along (せかす) | そんなに急かさないでください。Please don't rush me like that. |
| 忍ばせる | to slip in, to conceal about one's person (しのばせる) | ポケットにメモを忍ばせた。I slipped a note into my pocket. |
| 秒針 | the second hand of a clock (びょうしん) | 秒針の音だけが響いていた。Only the ticking of the second hand echoed. |
| 砕ける | to shatter, to become informal (くだける) | 氷が砕けて細かくなった。The ice shattered into small pieces. |
| 破片 | a shard, a splinter (はへん) | ガラスの破片に気をつけて。Watch out for the glass splinters. |
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