貧乏暇なし
びんぼひまなし
Literally: poverty free time lacks
Better: poverty has no free time, poor people have no free time

generally used as a self-deprecating gesture
I'm poor, so I have no free time

(and my friend points out that there is a certain element of pride there, too. I'm so busy -- and undervalued -- that I have no free time)

So... 貧乏暇なし gotta

That was amusing. Someone on TV started singing a childhood favorite about bubbles, in Japanese. I started laughing, and joined in with Jesus loves me, this I know... Mitsuko looked at me in amazement and asked how I knew this Japanese song. I said it is an old time American song for children at church. Then she said, "Oh, someone stole it." But ( Read more... )

One of the evening tv specials had a Japanese title, and an English title for that extra special touch.

The show was mostly about a 19 year old policewoman, who is working in an area with bars and whatnot, so she's seeing some of the best drunks around. Also a mother and daughter team working in a grocery store, picking up shoplifters. And a woman ( Read more... )

This was being advertised Monday, March 8, as we left Japan. I think it's the next morning drama (asadora). It looks intriguing, although it's sort of an unusual premise. First, you have to know that Ge-ge-ge no kitaro is a very popular manga and anime that was popular when we came to Japan 20 some years ago. I watched the TV show regularly when I ( Read more... )

Here's an oddity. When talking about being upset or angry, Japanese speakers commonly use the phrase "hara tatsu." This literally means "my stomach stands up." Which is actually a good comparison for the physical tightening of the abdomen, I suppose ( Read more... )

On one of the Japanese quiz shows recently, one of the questions concerned packaging for medicine. At one time, the blister packs that most medicine comes in were pre-scored so that you could easily tear it into single pill chunks. However, nowadays, the blister packs are scored so that you can only tear off chunks containing two or three pills. ( Read more... )

That rakugo show that I really liked? There was a little teaser on at lunchtime.  7/25, 8 pm, there's going to be a new show. Looked like they are taking the three men -- Sogen, Shiso, and Kosojyaku -- and putting them into a spinoff. Not sure if this is a one night stand or continuing show, but I'm looking forward to it.

Amusing. My wife, Mitsuko, taped a show about Hawaii the other day, and was watching it at lunchtime. I happened to ask, "Would you like a ukulele?" (pronouncing it the way I had learned - you-kih-lay-lee). She looked very puzzled, then said, "Oh, you mean a ukurere?" (oo-koo-ray-ray, with that wonderful soft r). The English dictionaries indicate ( Read more... )

Hum -- someone is having trouble with a computer that someone else used before, and didn't clean up. In talking about the problem, they fell back on this saying:
( Japanese behind the curtains . . . )

Interesting. This was in the collection of phrases on my calendar that I've occasionally been translating for Japanese practice. It's a short phrase describing the enlightenment of the masses.
( The Gory Details of Japanese )