Multi-lingual-istic Ramblings...

I have yet another Japanese question...can anyone tell me if there's a word for 'puppet'? Or something along those lines? (Looks hopefully at Sycho) I'm pondering fic titles for a Kou-POV work-in-progress and it would just fit the flow of what I've done with him so far and another piece that's trying to come together in my head if the title is Japanese. Otherwise it'll probably just be called 'Puppet'; and that somehow sounds a little plain.

Also, while I'm at it...what can y'all tell me about 'anou' and 'aa'? They keep trying to worm their way into Hakkai's speech, and I need to have a better understanding of what they mean before I decide to either kick them back out or let them stay. I have the impression that 'Aa' may just be a sound, or it could be an actual word--but it seems to get used in much the same way that 'Ah', 'Oh', and even 'Hn' appear in English. Sort of...a non-committal sound to indicate understanding or just paying attention. And 'anou'...it usually seems a polite way of saying something along the lines of 'Umm...' or 'Ahhh...' (shrugs)

If all else fails, does anyone have any site recs for researching these sorts of questions myself? Though I still find that a person with knowledge is generally more helpful than an automated translation device for languages like Japanese and Mandarin...which reminds me that I never did verify if using xin ai as a term of endearment was acceptable or not...whoops.

And, as an aside: Steph, thanks to you, every time U2's 'Vertigo' comes on the radio I'm hearing 'Uno! Dos! Tres! Battosai!' instead of 'catorce'...or is it quatorce? Quatorze--no wait, that's French...I think. >_< My semester of seventh-grade Spanish was a *very* long time ago...I'm afraid I don't remember the proper spelling for 'fourteen'.

Nonetheless, the idea of Bono as a Kenshin fan amuses me. ^_^

As Stolen From Brad...

You scored as True Neutral. A True Neutral person has two faces- either these people are merely apathetic, preferring to focus their minds on more important things, or these people truly believe in a balance of all things. To these people, there can be no light without some darkness. These people also have no dedication to, or intrinsic distrust of, laws. </td> True Neutral 85% Chaotic Good 65% Chaotic Neutral 60% Neutral Evil 60% Lawful Good 55% Neutral Good 55% Lawful Neutral 55% Chaotic Evil 35% Lawful Evil 35% What is your Alignment? created with QuizFarm.com

Too Damned Amusing for this time of night...

Stolen with great amusement from mad_about_yaoi:

Pick a favorite song. Copy a block from the lyrics. Go to babelfish ( http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr ), and translate the lyrics into Japanese. Copy/paste the result (which will be mostly a bunch of little boxes) into the translation text area, and translate back from Japanese to English. Post the result, and have people guess.

Ahem. (cracks knuckles)

"And I did and therefore I how obtain, therefore tangle and am high, being handled, bad when it can be connected with the string according to the shame of my own Ohio state I whom you make a mistake do not know"

(keels over and dies laughing for at least the third time tonight) Dear gods, this is too funny.

Some of you might be able to ferret that out, though... ^_^ Even though I had to break the contractions to get a translation...

Oh, hell, I'm doing another.

"When as for me when you depart, when that I am lonesome is not moved by the right being me to have been broken, I open feeling will force me sufficiently and it meaning that I have been broken, i is high love methodological me, we would like to grasp, that we would like to steal the grip and your pain which want knowing in healthy me in me are high to be able to amuse your photograph where I who my pain which you steal and leaves me am maintained have known thinking and being useful"

That one's a song that is being played to death by now; one that I dearly love nonetheless, one that inspires somber Gojyo-Hakkai ideas in my lazy-ass muses...

And yet another, because I just can't seem to stop...

"As for reliance I seeking everyday because of us with you and my what, the heart which for another view is new and opened you find, what is important"

Now, to go jot down the blocks I plugged in before I forget them... ^_^