hiki-iru, sotsu, ritsu Hikiiru is a verb meaning ‘to lead.’ Guiding school children on an excursion is expressed as insotsu. When the character means a rate, its reading is ritsu. Ratio is hiritsu. Kakuritsu means probability in statistics. The other meanings of this character are abrupt and candid. Keisotsu means ‘careless.’ Socchoku means ‘frank.’

hebi, da, ja A snake is called hebi 蛇. For the year of the Snake, we use another character 巳 meaning a snake. If you add something useless and unnecessary to what is considered perfect, it will be pointed out as dasoku and is removed. It literally means the legs of a snake. Although it [...]

yo-u, sui If somebody is drunken, you can use the word “yotta” (酔った) to describe them. “You”酔う is a verb that means either ‘to get drunk,’ ‘to be intoxicated,’ or ‘to get seasick.’ “Yotta” and “you” are variations of the same verb. If you are profoundly attracted to a particular talent or art, you can [...]

sen The character (旋) means ‘to move around’ or ‘to make a circle around.’ Senkai is circular movement. What brokers do is called shūsen.

ryō Ryō 猟 and shuryō means hunting or shooting. A hunter is called ryōshi. Ryōjū is a hunting gun. Ryōken is a hound.

shaku The character means ‘to disentangle’ and is always used with other characters. kaishaku … an interpretation chūshaku … annotations kishaku … dilution eshaku … a nod of greeting shakuhō … discharge or release

su-eru, su-waru The verb sueru means ‘to place something somewhere.’ The verb sueoku is used when you leave something in a place or at a position. If something doesn’t move because of its stableness or if one’s heart or eyes don’t move because of his/her confidence, you can use the verb suwaru.

su-teru, sha The verb suteru means ‘to throw away.’ When we cannot divide a number, we round it off. Rounding off a number is called “shisha go nyū.” Its literal meaning says, “If it is four or less, round off. If it is five or more, round up.” Rounding down is kirisute. Kirisute also means [...]

yawa-rakai, yawa-raka, nan Yawarakai and yawaraka means soft. Jūnan means flexible. Jū also means soft. Nansui is soft water. Nampa is usually a seducer. It also means picking up a woman on the street.