Author Archives: Confanity

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About Confanity

I love the written word more than anything else I've had the chance to work with. I'm back in the States from Japan for grad school, but still studying Japanese with the hope of becoming a translator -- or writer, or even teacher -- as long as it's something language-related.

The disaster’s antecedent

Posted on September 20, 2020 by Confanity

蟻の穴から堤も崩れる (Ari no ana kara tsutsumi mo kuzureru; “Even a dike crumbles due to an ant’s burrow”) Definition: Big events can arise from small causes. Specifically, even errors, negligence, or lack of attention or preparation that didn’t seem important at … Continue reading →

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Look at me, look at me, LOOK AT ME NOW!

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Confanity

(And pay no attention to the man behind the curtain) 自己顕示 ji.ko.ken.ji Literally: self – self – appear – indicate Alternately: Making oneself apparent. Speaking up, standing out, catching attention; making oneself conspicuous or unignorable; working to advance one’s own … Continue reading →

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Forget little spoon; do you want to be the lid?

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Confanity

割れ鍋に綴じ蓋 (Warenabe ni tojibuta; “A mended lid on a cracked pot”) Definition: Everybody has their match; no matter how out-of-place a person may feel, there is someone out there who would make a good spouse, friend, or other sort of … Continue reading →

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When you write the right rite

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Confanity

温柔敦厚 on.juu.ton.kou Literally: warm – soft – kind – thick / kind Alternately: Kind and gentle, considerate and loving. Notes: This is a compound of compounds. 温柔 expresses a warm, mild disposition; 敦厚 is humanity and kindness. Similar terms include … Continue reading →

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The taste of a beetle

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Confanity

蓼食う虫も好き好き (Tade kuu mushi mo sukizuki; “Even the bug who eats knotweed likes it”) Definition: Yet again, “different people have different tastes.” A person can like a thing that you don’t (or vice-versa), and that’s okay. Even spicy plants have … Continue reading →

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Fly, cow, fly; cow, fly, cow

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Confanity

蚊虻走牛 bun.bou.sou.gyuu Literally: mosquito – horsefly – run – cow Alternately: Something powerful being defeated by something weak; the great overthrown by the small. Literally, a cow being driven to run away by the onslaught of tiny biting flies. Alternatively, … Continue reading →

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Any shape other than the actual shape, really

Posted on August 30, 2020 by Confanity

四角な座敷を丸く掃く (Shikaku na zashiki wo maruku haku; “To sweep a circle in a square room”) Definition: To shirk; to cut corners; to do a bad job at something because you put in the bare minimum of thought and effort. Like … Continue reading →

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I know why the caged monkey sings

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Confanity

籠鳥檻猿 rou.chou.kan.en Literally: cage – bird – (jail) cell/pen – monkey Alternately: Unfree; specifically, having had one’s freedom taken away. Living like a bird – or monkey – in a cage, unable to do what you want. Notes: This phrase … Continue reading →

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It ain’t no thing

Posted on August 23, 2020 by Confanity

– but an unfelt sting 鹿の角を蜂が刺す (Shika no tsuno wo hachi ga sasu; “A wasp stings a deer’s antler”) Definition: In literal terms, this phrase refers to something that doesn’t even tickle or itch, much less hurt; something that elicits … Continue reading →

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Wild horses could, in fact, drag it out of me

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Confanity

意馬心猿 i.ba.shin.en Literally: mind – horse – heart – monkey Alternately: This Buddhist phrase expresses how it is difficult to control oneself and detach from the illusory material world because worldly desires, false beliefs, and mental pollution such as hatred … Continue reading →

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