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Let’s learn Japanese with Mio Naganohara’s quote from Nichijou (My Ordinary Life).

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)

部屋へやを散ちらかしたのは誰だれだ？ ー お前まえだよ！

heya o chirakashita no wa dare da? – omae da yo!

Who messed up the room? – It’s YOU!

何なんで起おこしてくれなかったの？遅刻ちこくだよ！

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かたみが欲ほしい。ー ちょっと、おばあちゃんはまだ元気げんきだよ！

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)

すき焼やき

sukiyaki

Beef hot pot

お好このみ焼やき

okonomiyaki

Japanese pancake

焼やきイカ

yakiika

Grilled squid

焼やきとうもろこし

yakitōmorokoshi

Grilled corn

焼やきリンゴ

yakiringo

Baked apple

焼やき魚ざかな

yakizakana

Grilled fish

目玉めだま焼やき

medamayaki

Fried egg

しょうが焼やき

shōgayaki

Pork cooked with ginger

照てり焼やき

teriyaki

Grilled with a glaze

焼やき豚ぶた

yakibuta

Grilled pork

More Words with Similar Pronunciation

ショートケーキ – 消毒液しょうどくえき

shōtokēki – shōdokueki

Shortcake – Hand sanitiser

ご声援せいえん – 五千円ごせんえん

goseien – gosen’en

Cheers – Five thousand yen

投票とうひょう – 東京とうきょう

tōhyō – tōkyō

Vote – Tokyo

貧血ひんけつ – 金欠きんけつ – 献血けんけつ

hinketsu – kinketsu – kenketsu

Anaemia – Broke (no money) – Blood donation

ぶどうパン – 武道館ぶどうかん

budōpan – budōkan

Grape bread – Budokan

ポンコツ – 豚骨とんこつ

ponkotsu – tonkotsu

Piece of junk – Pork bone

ケンタッキー – 洗濯機せんたくき

kentakkī – sentakuki

Kentucky – Washing machine

数すうパーセント – スーパー銭湯せんとう

sūpāsento – sūpāsentō

A few percent – Spa

手紙てがみ – 毛けガニ

tegami – kegani

Letter – Hairy crab

ホッカイロ – 北海道ほっかいどう

hokkairo – hokkaidō

Heat pack – Hokkaido

人参にんじん – 隣人りんじん

ninjin – rinjin

Carrot – Neighbour

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