That Jin Jin Feeling

~Nagaoka is being pummeled by intense windstorms (~41 mph gusts) and sporadic snow flurries. Outside, the wind is howling over the trees. As I'm fond of saying, "Weather such as this is best enjoyed from indoors." Actually, it's best enjoyed indoors, in front of a fire, while sitting in a reclining chair with a blanket and a purring cat on your lap, with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book or movie, and the phone turned off.

But that's just me.

Anyway, here are some more of the "Word Play" cartoons that I've been collecting from The Japan Times newspaper. If you missed the last blog, each of these cartoons illustrates a different onomatope, which is a usage of onomatopoeia (words that sound like sounds). Every Tuesday, the newspaper runs two "Word Play" cartoons displaying two similar onomatopes:

jin jin
Having sat on the floor for a long time, my legs started to tingle and I couldn't stand up.

So in Japanese, jin jin is the "pins and needles" feeling you get when your muscles are cramped. Most Japanese are used to the kneeling position, but for the few times that I tried it in formal Japanese ceremonies, I had major jin jin.

shin shin
The snow falls steadily and silently and gathers on the ground in the ancient capital.

The ancient capital described here is most likely Kyoto (translates to "Western Capital"), which was the capital of Japan for centuries until it was moved to Tokyo ("Eastern Capital") in 1868. The snow falling outside of my window at the moment is definitely not doing so in a shin shin fashion.

bishitt
The earthquake severely cracked the wall.

Thankfully, I wasn't around here for the big earthquake that struck in 2004. I'm sure there were plenty of structures that were bishitt back then, although most of the damage has been cleaned up by now.

pishitt
The teacher who is usually kind, sternly scolded the boy who caused trouble during class.

A person who is very strict could be described as being pishitt. Usually, I'm quite laid back in class, but sometimes I have to be pishitt with my students when they behave like petulant little monkeys or (in the case of certain high-school students) lazy sloths. ~Oyasumi!