(8) Katta tochi o asobasete-oku no wa oshii desu yo.
You shouldn’t leave the piece of land you bought unused.
A very common idiom involving asobu is asobi ni iku (or kuru), meaning “to pay a social call.”
(9) Doozo ichi-do oasobi ni oide-kudasal.
Please come and see us (not *come and play) some time.
One puzzling expression for English speakers might be atama o karu, which literally means “to clip one’s head,” but actually is another version of kami[noke] o karu “to give someone a haircut, to get a haircut.” We often use atama o arau (lit., “to wash one’s head”), too, to mean kami[noke] o arau “to wash one’s hair.”
Two very common expressions containing atama are atama ga ii (lit., “the head is good”) meaning “smart, bright, intelligent” and atama ga warui (lit., “the head is bad”） meaning “stupid, dumb, dense.”
(10) Ano ko wa atama ga ii kara, nan de mo sugu oboeru.
That child is so bright he learns everything quickly.
Atama and “head” do not necessarily refer to the same part of the human body. While “head” refers to that part of the body joined to the trunk by the neck, atama refers to that portion of the head roughly from the eyebrows up, plus the whole of the back of the head.
Atatakai (or, more colloquially, attakai) is almost always translated in English as “warm,” but, unlike “warm,” atatakai always carries a connotation of pleasantness. When we have a nice warm day in the midst of winter, or when winter gradually gives way to pleasant spring weather, we use atatakai. We do not use atatakai, but atsui “hot” instead, if, in the midst of summer, the mercury reaches, for example, the mid-80s Fahrenheit, although in English one often says “It’s very warm today,” on such a day.
Atatakai may be used with reference not only to weather but to liquids and solids as well. Study the following examples:
(1) atatakai tenki (haru, hi, etc.)—weather
warm weather (spring, day, etc.)
(2) atatakai nomimono (gyuunyuu, misoshiru, etc.)—liquids
warm beverage (milk, miso soup, etc.)
(3) atatakai tabemono (te, gohan, etc.)—solids
warm food (hand, rice, etc.)
(See also atsui “hot” and nurui “lukewarm.”)
In Japanese there are two words for “hot,” both pronounced atsui. For the sake of convenience, I shall distinguish them here by calling one atsui1 and the other atsui2. They are represented by different kanji and are used with reference to different types of objects.
Atsui1 written 熱い, is used in reference to gases, fluids, and solids.
(1) atsui1 kaze
a hot wind
(2) atsui1 ofuro
a hot bath
(3) atsui1 tabemono
hot food
Atsui2 , written 署い, on the other hand, is used mainly in reference to weather, as in
(4) Kyoo wa atsui2 .
It’s hot today.
(5) Ichiban atsui2 tsuki wa shichi-gatsu ka hachi-gatsu da.
The hottest month is either July or August.
The difference between atsui1 when it is used in reference to gases, as in example (1) above, and atsui2 parallels the difference between tsumetai and samui, both of which mean “cold.” Atsui1 refers to a sensation of heat affecting a limited part or parts of the body, such as the face and the hands, whereas atsui2 is used for a sensation of heat affecting the whole body. According to Kunihiro (p. 22), atsui1 belongs to one series of temperature words:
tsumetai, cold nurui, lukewarm atatakai, warm atsui1 while atsui2 is part of the other series:
samui, cold suzushii, cool atatakai, warm atsui2
(All these adjectives of temperature are explained in their respective entries.)
ATSUI 厚い thick
Atsui meaning “thick” requires a kanji different from the ones for atsui meaning “hot” (see atsui “hot”). This atsui is used in reference to flat objects.
(1) atsui kami (hon, ita, etc.)
thick paper (book, board, etc.)
We also say atsui oobaa (lit., “a thick overcoat”), focusing on the thickness of the material, whereas the English speaker would speak of “a heavy overcoat” with the weight of the overcoat in mind.
Although, in English, “thick” may be used in reference to cylindrical objects as well as flat objects, as in “thick thread,” “thick fingers,” etc., that is not the case with atsui. Futoi is the correct adjective then.
(2) futoi (not *atsui ) ito (yubi, eda, etc.)
thick thread (fingers, branch, etc.)
Atsui “thick” has a different accent from atsui “hot.” Whereas the latter is accented on the second syllable, the former is accentless. Thus examples (3) and (4), when spoken, may be differentiated only by accent.
(3)
thick pancakes
(4)
hot pancakes
In English, one says “see someone” or “meet someone,” with “someone” as the direct object of “see” or “meet.” In Japanese, on the other hand, au is an intransitive verb and takes the particle ni rather than o.
(1) Tanaka-san wa mainichi gaarufurendo ni atte-iru rashii.
Mr. Tanaka seems to be seeing his girlfriend every day.
(2) Yamashita-san ni hajimete atta no wa go-nen-gurai mae datta.
It was about five years ago that I met Mr. Yamashita for the first time.
Au can refer to seeing or meeting someone either by accident or on purpose. For example, in (3) below, au together with pattari “unexpectedly” refers to an accidental encounter (in this case, au is synonymous with deau “to meet by chance”), whereas in (4) au obviously signals meeting someone for some purpose.
(3) Kinoo densha no naka de Yoshida-san ni pattari atta.
Yesterday I met Mr. Yoshida on the train by chance.
(4) Kyoo no gogo Satoo-san ni au yotei da.
I plan to meet Mr. Sato this afternoon (e.g., to discuss some matter).
Seeing a doctor for medical reasons is not au but mite-morau “to have oneself seen.”
(5)