【手（て）】”TE”
Meaning:
hand
Usage:
「右手でお箸を、左手でお茶碗を持って。」
（みぎてでおはしを、ひだりてでおちゃわんをもって。）
(Migite de ohashi o, hidarite de ochawan o motte.)
”Hold the chopsticks with your right hand and the (rice) bowl with your left.”
- In Japanese, a right-handed person is called 「右利き (みぎきき / migikiki)」 and a left-handed person is called 「左利き (ひだりきき / hidarikiki)」.
- As shown in Usage, the basic etiquette is to hold the chopsticks with your right hand and the bowl with your left. In Japan, it is good manners to lift up your bowl of rice or miso soup when you eat.
Glossary:
- 手（て）: hand
- 右手（みぎて）: right hand
- 左手（ひだりて）: left hand
- お箸（おはし）: chopsticks
- お茶碗（おちゃわん）: bowl for rice
- 持つ（もつ）: to have, to hold
【親指（おやゆび）】”OYAYUBI”
Meaning:
thumb
Usage:
「準備が出来たら、親指を立てて合図して！」
（じゅんびができたら、おやゆびをたててあいずして！）
(Jumbi ga dekitara, oyayubi o tatete aizu shite!)
“When you’re ready, give me the thumbs up signal!”
- 「親指」(thumb) is the direct translation of “parent finger”.
- Just like in English, we sometimes refer to our fingers as family members:
- 「お父さん指 (おとうさんゆび / otōsan-yubi)」”daddy finger”
- 「お母さん指 (おかあさんゆび / okāsan-yubi)」”mommy finger”
- 「お兄さん指 (おにいさんゆび / onīsan-yubi)」”brother finger”
- 「お姉さん指 (おねえさんゆび / onēsan-yubi)」”sister finger”
- 「赤ちゃん指 (あかちゃんゆび / akachan-yubi)」”baby finger”
Glossary:
- 準備（じゅんび）: preparation, getting ready
- 出来る（できる）: can, to be able to
- 準備が出来る（じゅんびができる）: it’s ready, the preparation is done
- 親指（おやゆび）: thumb
- 指（ゆび）: finger
- 立てる: to stand up, to raise up, to set up, to erect
- 合図（あいず）: sign, signal, cue
【人差し指（ひとさしゆび）】”HITOSASHIYUBI”
Meaning:
index finger
Usage:
「日本でも親指と人差し指でハートを作るポーズが流行ってるよ。」
（にほんでもおやゆびとひとさしゆびではーとをつくるぽーずがはやってるよ。）
(Nihon demo oyayubi to hitosashiyubi de hāto o tsukuru pōzu ga hayatteruyo.)
“The pose of making a heart with the thumb and index finger is also popular in Japan.”
- 「人差し指」(index finger) is the direct translation of “pointing-people finger”. (In Japan, it is considered rude to point at someone, though…)
- The pose in the picture below was introduced by K-POP idols and is now popular among young people in Japan.
Glossary:
- 日本（にほん）: Japan
- 親指（おやゆび）: thumb
- 人差し指（ひとさしゆび）: index finger
- ハート（はーと）: heart
- 作る（つくる）: to make
- ポーズ（ぽーず）: pose
- 流行る（はやる）: to be popular, to come into fashion, to go viral
【中指（なかゆび）】”NAKAYUBI”
Meaning:
middle finger
Usage:
「中指の骨が折れた。」
（なかゆびのほねがおれた。）
(Nakayubi no hone ga oreta.)
“I broke my middle finger.”
- 「中指」means “middle finger”, just like in English.
- 「骨が折れる (ほねがおれる)」directly translates to break bones.The noun (“fracture”) is「骨折 (こっせつ)」.
- 「骨が折れる」 has another meaning: “painstaking” (or “to require much effort” or “to be hard to do something”).
Usage:
「子供の持ち物全てに名前を書くのは、骨が折れる作業だ。」
（こどものもちものすべてになまえをかくのは、ほねがおれるさぎょうだ。）
(Kodomo no mochimono subete ni namae o kakuno wa, hone ga oreru sagyō da.)
“It is a painstaking task to write the names on all of my child’s belongings.”
*Shout out to all the parents out there 🙂 !*
Glossary:
- 中指（なかゆび）: middle finger
- 骨（ほね）: bone
- 折れる（おれる）: to break, to be broken
【薬指（くすりゆび）】”KUSURIYUBI”
Meaning:
ring finger
Usage:
「日本でも左手の薬指に結婚指輪をつけます。」
（にほんでもひだりてのくすりゆびにけっこんゆびわをつけます。）
(Nihon demo hidarite no kusuriyubi ni kekkonyubiwa o tsukemasu.)
“People wear their wedding rings on the ring finger of their left hand as well in Japan.”
- 「薬指」(ring finger) literally means “medicine finger”. It is said that the name comes from the fact that people used to mix powdered medicine with their ring finger when dissolving it in water.
- It is sometimes called 「紅差し指 (べにさしゆび / benisashi-yubi)」(old expression). It means “a finger for putting red” because people used to put red lip color with ring fingers.
Glossary:
- 日本（にほん）: Japan
- 左手（ひだりて）: left hand
- 薬指（くすりゆび）: ring finger
- 指輪（ゆびわ）: ring (jewerly)
- つける: to wear, to put on
【小指（こゆび）】”KOYUBI”
Meaning:
pinky finger
Usage:
「小指を使った『指切り』という約束を守る・守らせるための風習があります。」
（こゆびをつかった「指切り」というやくそくをまもる・まもらせるためのふうしゅうがあります。）
(Koyubi o tsukatta “yubikiri” to iu yakusoku o mamoru / mamoraseru tameno fūshū ga arimasu.)
“There is a custom to keep or make people keep a promise called “yubikiri” using the pinky finger.”
- 「小指」(pinky finger) literally means “little finger”.
- 「指切り (ゆびきり)」is an abbreviation of 「指切りげんまん (ゆびきりげんまん)」. It means a pinky promise. We say, 「指切り（げんまん）しよう (yubikirigenman shiyō)」to do a pinky promise and sing the song.
指切りげんまん (ゆびきりげんまん / yubikirigenman)
嘘ついたら針千本のます (うそついたらはりせんぼんのます / usotsuitara harisembon nomasu)
指切った (ゆびきった / yubikitta)
“Cutting finger, fist punches for ten-thousand times,
If you tell a lie, I will force you to swallow a thousand needles,
Now I cut my finger”
Aggghh… In the old days, it was customary for Yūjo (courtesans) to cut off their pinky finger and give it to the male customer they wanted to make a (marriage) vow to. This song is based on this custom. But Japanese children sing it without knowing the story behind it.
Glossary:
- 小指（こゆび）: pinky finger
- 使う（つかう）: to use
- 指切り（ゆびきり）: pinky promise
- 約束（やくそく）: promise
- 守る（まもる）: to protect, to save, to keep, to guard
- 風習（ふうしゅう）: custom
- ある: there is, there are, to be, to exist
【手のひら/掌（てのひら）】”TENOHIRA”
Meaning:
palm
Usage:
「手のひらの線を見て占う『手相占い』が人気です。」
（てのひらのせんをみてうらなう『てそううらない』がにんきです。）
(Tenohira no sen o mite uranau “tesō-uranai” ga ninki
“Palm reading, which is telling your fortune by looking at the lines on your palm, is very popular.”
- In Japan, blood type fortune-telling, astrology, and palm-reading are very popular. In the morning news, every major station airs today’s fortune telling.
I, personally, don’t believe in fortune telling that much, but I watch them because they tell you your lucky items. So I sometimes take those items with me when I go out.
Glossary:
- 手のひら（てのひら）: palm
- 線（せん）: line
- 見る（みる）: to see
- 占う（うらなう）: to tell fortune, to predict
- 手相（てそう）: palm (reading)
- 占い（うらない）: fortune telling
- 手相占い（てそううらない）: palm reading
- 人気（にんき）: popularity