Last week, I posted a story about getting a coffee maker
from my mom when I moved out. In this account, I quoted her saying
'Anything. Maybe a coffee maker?'
Ha.
I don't remember
what she (or I) said seven years ago. It was just a guess, and an honest
one, but it also fit better than some other options.
"Urusai!"
was one such choice. "Urusai!" is one of the better Japanese expressions.
In
theory, it means 'you are being loud'.
In practice, it means 'shut up'.
In translation (which I see as the unique blend of practice and theory)
'urusai' kind of means 'since your choice to speak is causing you to be
too loud, perhaps you should consider being less loud, or even quiet, a goal
most sensibly and directly achieved by shutting up. So, do shut up.'
Footnotes / imagined complaints
0. Editor's note...
We at TOA look forward to the (calm) rebuttals from our Japanese-speaking reader(s) regarding today's translation lesson.
