Let’s learn Japanese with Mio Naganohara’s quote from Nichijou (My Ordinary Life).
CONTENTS
Video
Mio Naganohara’s Quote
Japanese: 焼きそばだよ!
Romaji: yakisoba da yo!
English: It’s fried noodles!
Analysis
焼きそば is a Japanese dish of fried noodles which consists of vegetables, meat, and noodles made from flour, served mainly with Worcester sauce. The word “yakisoba” derives from yaki meaning “grilled or fried” and soba meaning “noodles”.
There are many foods that has 焼き in their name such as 焼き肉 (grilled meat), 焼き鳥 (grilled chicken), 焼き芋 (grilled sweet potato), たこ焼き (fried octopus ball), 卵焼き (Japanese omelette), たい焼き (fried sea bream-shaped pancake), どら焼き (fried gong-shaped pancake) and so on. The food that Yukko misheard is 焼き鯖 which is a grilled mackerel. You usually eat it with white rice because it’s a bit salty so Mio got angrier when she heard there was no rice.
だ makes a sentence declarative, attached to a noun or na-adjective.
よ is used to make the listener aware of the information. By using this particle, Mio is emphasising that she said 焼きそば to blame Yukko for mishearing her.
Here are some words which could be misheard.
- 天気 (weather) and 電気 (lights, electric)
- 待つ (to wait) and 持つ (to hold)
- 紐 (string) and 芋 (potato)
- 唐揚げ (deep-fried) and カラオケ (karaoke)
- ゴリラ (gorilla) and ゴディバ (Godiva)
You can usually guess from the context but if you are not sure, you can use these useful phrases to ask them to repeat what they said. “Sorry, can you say that again?” In casual speech, ごめん、もう一回言ってくれる? In formal speech, すみません、もう一回言ってもらえますか?
Examples
Noun/Na-Adjective + だよ (used to emphasise the information to blame someone)
部屋を散らかしたのは誰だ? ー お前だよ!
heya o chirakashita no wa dare da? – omae da yo!
Who messed up the room? – It’s YOU!
何で起こしてくれなかったの?遅刻だよ!
nande okoshite kurenakatta no? chikoku da yo!
Why didn’t you wake me up? I’m going to be late!
おばあちゃんの形見が欲しい。ー ちょっと、おばあちゃんはまだ元気だよ!
obā-chan no katami ga hoshii. – chotto, obā-chan wa mada genki da yo!
I want a keepsake from Grandma. – Hey, Grandma is still fine!
More Foods with 焼き (grilled, fried)
すき焼き
sukiyaki
Beef hot pot
お好み焼き
okonomiyaki
Japanese pancake
焼きイカ
yakiika
Grilled squid
焼きとうもろこし
yakitōmorokoshi
Grilled corn
焼きリンゴ
yakiringo
Baked apple
焼き魚
yakizakana
Grilled fish
目玉焼き
medamayaki
Fried egg
しょうが焼き
shōgayaki
Pork cooked with ginger
照り焼き
teriyaki
Grilled with a glaze
焼き豚
yakibuta
Grilled pork
More Words with Similar Pronunciation
ショートケーキ – 消毒液
shōtokēki – shōdokueki
Shortcake – Hand sanitiser
ご声援 – 五千円
goseien – gosen’en
Cheers – Five thousand yen
投票 – 東京
tōhyō – tōkyō
Vote – Tokyo
貧血 – 金欠 – 献血
hinketsu – kinketsu – kenketsu
Anaemia – Broke (no money) – Blood donation
ぶどうパン – 武道館
budōpan – budōkan
Grape bread – Budokan
ポンコツ – 豚骨
ponkotsu – tonkotsu
Piece of junk – Pork bone
ケンタッキー – 洗濯機
kentakkī – sentakuki
Kentucky – Washing machine
数パーセント – スーパー銭湯
sūpāsento – sūpāsentō
A few percent – Spa
手紙 – 毛ガニ
tegami – kegani
Letter – Hairy crab
ホッカイロ – 北海道
hokkairo – hokkaidō
Heat pack – Hokkaido
人参 – 隣人
ninjin – rinjin
Carrot – Neighbour
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