Here's a huge list of vocabulary words I've encountered in our conversation group or "in the wild". There's no particular overall theme, but at least all these words have appeared in real conversations, publications, or media.
| 単語 | 意味 | 背景 |
|---|---|---|
| 何か | Something | as in なにか食べようか (shall we eat something?) (2015 May 3) |
| 駄洒落 | A bad joke or pun | As in: Floyd Mayweather becomes フロイド 五月天気 |
| 以外 | Except | As in 犬以外なんでも好きです (I like everything except dogs) |
| 体脂肪 | Body fat | good for certain types of fighter |
| よける | To dodge | Topic: the Pacquiao - Mayweather (五月天気) fight. |
| 親孝行 | Piety to parents | |
| 気長に | Patiently | makes sense from the "long mood/spirit" meaning of the kanji. Compare to 短気: short-tempered! |
| ママ友 | Mothers who are friends only because of their children | A 2011 anime titled "名前をなくした女神 (Goddesses who lost their names)" explores this concept. |
| 根気 | Perseverance | 気 (spirit, air, mood) appears in hundreds of compounds. |
| 敬語 | honorific/polite speech | A frequent topic. |
| 殿 | Lord | title given to 社長, other VIP sometimes when using 敬語 |
| 珈琲 | Ateji (and rarely used) for コーヒー, "coffee" | Look up the two kanji; "hairpin" and "string of pearls" have a tenuous connection to coffee |
| 金額 | Amount of money | "Royalty" vs. "Loyalty" discussion. (半額 means "half price.") (2015 June 7) |
| 支払い | Payment | Kanji are "branch" and "pay" |
| 支払い | Payment | Kanji are "branch" and "pay" |
| 剣道 | Kendo | Literally the way (道) of the sword(剣). Several martial art names end with 道 |
| 肉刺 | Blister | Literally "meat" (肉) and "pierce" (刺). 熟字訓 reading. From kendo discussion. |
| 感動的 | Heartwarming | Feeling (感), movement (動) and adjectival modifier (的) |
| 漫画 | Manga | Discussion about manga artist 鳥山 明 |
| X にはまっている | Excited about X | Article about Crayon Shin-chan |
| ぬいぐるみ | Stuffed or plush toy | Usually written using kana alone |
| いつの頃からか | I don't know (since) when... | Usually written using kana alone |
| 雑談 | Chatting | Compare to 雑誌 (magazine) and 冗談 (joke) |