Japanese word of the day

[pez]

Because someone asked me for a translation and so here it is:

詐欺師 (sagishi) - n. Swinder, imposer, crook.

Note that Niou's nickname is sagishi ;) the title "trickster" is actually fanon, not canon.

Comments

[lechaco.livejournal.com]

I think "trickster" was the translation of Sagishi. Just like how Gentleman is the translation of ...whatever the japanese version of that is.

[yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com]

Yagyuu's title was Shinshi, which translates to gentleman, yeah ^^

There are several way of saying "trickster" in Japanese, the most direct way being "torikkusutaa" ^^"""

(although, the kanji for sagishi, when read in Chinese, does translate it to trickster, but there's the slight difference ^^")

[lechaco.livejournal.com]

well think of that "torikkusutaa". such a mouthful. sagishi = easier to say/chant? hahaha probably why Yagyuu is shinshi and not "jenteruman".

[yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com]

it's not really a mouthful... ^^" and the Japanese aren't worried about long names like that - they love using adapted English words. Just think "triple counter". It doesn't really matter, I suppose, as long as people know "trickster" is not really canon and don't start screaming bloody murder when other people say "Con man" or "imposer"...

For Yagyuu, using shinshi kinda implies he's not just a gentleman, but the sort of gentleman you'd prolly find in Victorian England.

[lechaco.livejournal.com]

not really when you look at English loan words like "supaa" that is supposed to be supermarket but they cut it short. same with "depaato" for department store.

I like how they use kanji to describe them because that gives them another layer of meaning (or several) but it's not like trickster isn't canon because it's just one translation of the word. yeah as long as fans don't overreact, then it's fine.

like for "Koutei" if you want to be technical, it really denotes "chinese emperor" but no one uses that as translation but it does have that underlying meaning.

[yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com]

Manga though, likes to use the long words, from what I see XD

I dunno -_- on my dictionary, trickster isn't any of the translation for sagishi ^^" and if I look up trickster on English --> Japanese, it doesn't give me anything that is remotely Niou-ish :(

[lechaco.livejournal.com]

oh! there's also the "this sounds better in english" thing XD swindler sounds so beneath him hahaha ;;;;;; ._.

[yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com]

I think "imposer" is like, the most direct word, but it sort of lacks finesse as well XD and CROOK is just.... CROOK XD

[lechaco.livejournal.com]

HAHAHHA. CROOK. *dead* XDDD

[shiroibara.livejournal.com]

*is really totally amused by the mental picture of Niou the Used Car Salesman now* ^____^

Thanks, Pez!! I have to say I like the contrast of the Gentleman versus the Con Man.

[yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com]

NOW I HAVE THE IMAGE OF NIOU TRYING TO SELL YAGYUU A CAR, THANKS TO YOU.

[xiu]

*headdesk*