Question

[Dakata]

"Watashi wa anata ni konomu ikemasen yo"

Is that how you say "I'm not allowed to like/love you"? Sorry, I'm not that good at translating from English to Japanese.

Also, if I said "___ is a sick, little monkey", in Japanese would it be "____ wa byouki chiisai saru desu"? Or something else?

[richvh]

I don't think 好む is commonly used to mean you like/love someone; the examples I see on ALC make it seem it's more like/prefer to do something. That's definitely not the right way to indicate something is prohibited. Using 愛する (which is a very strong "love", it would be:
私はあなたを愛してはいけません
Watashi wa anata o ai shite ikemasen.

You need a で after nouns or な adjectives that are chained to other adjectives (い adjectives change the い to くて when chaining):
○○病気で小さい猿です。
___byoukide chiisai saru desu.

[ebear215]

Might wan't to put it in romaji. Not everyone can read hiragana yet. Let alone kanji.

[Dakata]

Oh okay. Thanks.

[AJBryant]

You need a で after nouns or な adjectives that are chained to other adjectives (い adjectives change the い to くて when chaining):
○○病気で小さい猿です。

Except 病気 is a physical illness; calling someone "sick" is a psychological issue. I'd go with "kichigai."

This is a classic example of how idioms don't literally translate. In Japanese calling someone this would be met with blank stares and a kind of "naaaani?" response. It's like trying to translate "cheese-eating surrender monkey" into French. A literal translation doesn't carry the concept of a "(verb/noun phrase)-monkey" in English.

I'm still trying to come up with a decent Japanese translation of "get a life."

Tony

Tony

[Oracle]

AJBryant wrote:

You need a で after nouns or な adjectives that are chained to other adjectives (い adjectives change the い to くて when chaining):
○○病気で小さい猿です。

Except 病気 is a physical illness; calling someone "sick" is a psychological issue. I'd go with "kichigai."

This is a classic example of how idioms don't literally translate. In Japanese calling someone this would be met with blank stares and a kind of "naaaani?" response. It's like trying to translate "cheese-eating surrender monkey" into French. A literal translation doesn't carry the concept of a "(verb/noun phrase)-monkey" in English.

Totally agree - some things just don't translate well "as are" - this is one of them. You have to go take the original English apart and ask yourself "what does sick little monkey really mean?" how could I rephrase it?" I guess ultimately it means someone who's strange, twisted, deviant or something along those lines. How about 変わり者(かわりもの)、　変わっているやつ(かわっているやつ)、変(へん)、or 変態（へんたい） ?

I'm still trying to come up with a decent Japanese translation of "get a life."

hmm, that's a tough one. It's so common people probably don't really think about what it means, but I guess its basic meaning is something like "don't waste time on something so stupid / it's a waste of your life doing stuff like that".

how about : そんなくだらないことをしていたら、人生がもったいない！
or just 「人生、もったいない」

Doesn't quite roll off the tongue in the same way though..

[AJBryant]

Doesn't quite roll off the tongue in the same way though..

That's the problem with so many of those good idioms. That's part of the stress of translating. Sigh.


Tony