Animal Idioms (Power Japanese) [Paperback]

Jeff Garrison (Author), Masahiko Goshi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1996 | Series: Power Japanese

This explanation of idioms deals with animals. The volume is organized by zoological category with background notes and sample sentences. The Power Japanese series presents a selection of guides to difficult or confusing aspects of the Japanese language. The student can find a quick reference to particles, a guide to the myriad levels of politeness, books of idioms, vocabulary builders, emotive expressions and turns of speech - all with natural examples.

Product Details

• Paperback: 154 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha Amer Inc (December 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4770016689
• ISBN-13: 978-4770016683
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,265,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Narrowly Focused, but Fun and Useful, July 12, 2010

By 

Gilgamesh (Middle Earth) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Animal Idioms (Power Japanese) (Paperback)

I think Animal Idioms (Power Japanese) is probably the book I use the least in the Power Japanese series. There is nothing wrong with it, in my opinion, and I am glad I purchased it. It simply has a narrow focus.

WHAT'S IN IT?

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The book contains roughly 300 idiomatic expressions related to animals. The authors have divided the book into sections on different animals such as "fish and shellfish." Within each section are entries on an animal in that category, like a sardine. They begin by providing the general image of the creature. For sardines they say, "Appreciation for this lowly regarded but always numerous plebe of the ocean is growing asa other more highly prized delectables vanish from the plundered seas....The fact that iwashi [sardines] expire almost immediately after being removed from water is part of their image in the Japanese mind (not that the right side of character for iwashi means "weak")" (page 105). The writing is good, right?

The explanation of the animal is followed by examples of usage in idiomatic expressions. They give a literal gloss followed by a looser one that provides you with a sense of what it means. Iwashigumo is glossed as "sardine cloud" and explained as "a small, white, fleecy cloud; a cirrocumulus; a mackerel of cloud; (of a sky in which such clouds appear) a mackeral sky" (page 105). Helpful, right?

Then, they follow up with examples of the phrase used in sentences. "Kyou wa iwashigumo ga dete ita" is transltated as "There was a mackerel sky today" (page 105). I cannot say I have ever used the sentence, but your friends who like to fish might be suitably impressed if you produced it!

SUMMARY

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This book is really meant to be read. Put it in your bookbag and take it out when you have some free time on the bus, on the train, or hanging out in the airport. If you want a reference work with comprehensive coverage of more than animals, you can buy that and leave it on your bookshelf. You may want to read this in conjunction with Kanji Idioms (Power Japanese).

See my Listmania List ("The Power Japanese Series") for more books in the series.

2.0 out of 5 stars For whom is it written?, March 7, 2004

By 

Magnus Lewan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Animal Idioms (Power Japanese) (Paperback)

There is something charming with this book listing a large number of animals and explaining how they are used in Japanese sayings. However, it's difficult to imagine who the targeted reader might be. A beginner cannot possibly use it. There is no word to word translation and no explanations of unusual syntax or grammar. An advanced student on the other hand, would be disturbed by the persistent transcription of every single character. For an advanced student this is just a waste of space. The translations to English contain far too much slang to be useful for a non native English speaker. I'm not interested in all the strange ways you can express the origiginal Japanese in English. I'm just interested in what it actually means, and unfortunately this book more than once fails to convey that.