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Japanese to English translations [PRO] Cosmetics, Beauty
Japanese term or phrase:出ししみ
**Please be aware that there is the possibility that this is not exactly the right word: I am dealing with a hard-to-read hand-written document, so I may not be reading some of the words right.**
This is a beauty diary, of how a woman takes care of her skin. She is describing how she washes her face, etc.
Explanation: しみ is age spot,
however,
出し is probably connected to the preceding verbage, not しみ。
Please include the preceding words just to be sure.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 17 hrs (2006-08-11 21:30:04 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
The suppostion, raised by a peer, that we’re talking about
“blemishes”, not “age spots”, is a valid one to consider. But I
believe age spots remains the correct translation. Though the selected Japanese passage we are working with is brief, I believe we have enough context to compare it, show similarities with other Japanese text (which I’ll reference further below), and safely conclude that we are talking about “age spots”.
But before that, “age spots”, though of course more prevalent in older people than younger ones, is THE TERM use to describe a condition. As I mentioned elsewhere, I, myself, started getting age spots on the back of my hand at age 30. The modifier “age” does not restrict usage to the term to “the aged” anymore than the modifier “widow” restricts “widow’s peaks” to widows.
Now, ultimately I will defer to all my friends of the fairer sex on the following, but it does seem to me that “blemishes”, though
not necessarily, are usually the bane of younger people and are often(though, again, not always) associated with acne.
If you were to ask someone, “Quick! What’s a blemish?” I
think their initial reaction would affirm my point. Conversely,
when one sees an age spot on one’s cheek, forearm, or wherever, one thinks, “Oh-oh! I have an age-spot!” not “blemish”.
So which is it? Blemishes or age spots. Well, when speaking in Japanese, though I’m not a native speaker, I feel pretty confident that しみ most commonly is referring to what we
native English speakers call “age spots”. Here’s a few lines
from a Japanese website:
The message, combined with the images of a youngish housewife, I believe, say it all. And then the clickable button
with “しみ・くすみの原因＂ use the exact same terms from
our asker’s, Conejo’s, passage.
Here’s the URL: http://www.saishunkan.co.jp/domo/sign/
As you already know, conejoさん, since it is a diary, there is no problem at all in writing "and he was sit.......ting there". くすみ出し actually appears in IME list as well; ちょっとお試しくださらないのですか？
The handwritten text says くすみ…出ししみが消えてきてます.
There are 3 dots, or something that looks like ~~~, and a big space in between くすみ and 出ししみ.
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
12 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): -1
blemish, dark spots
Explanation: I think they are trying to appeal women (and some effeminated men -- or to avoid hurting someone's feeling -- appearance-sensitive men) who wish their facial skin problem to disappear. Of course it may be wrong to limit their concerns to just facial area, as other parts of the body could get such problem just as well.
humbird United States Local time: 21:17 Native speaker of: Japanese, English PRO pts in category: 14
Explanation: しみ is age spot,
however,
出し is probably connected to the preceding verbage, not しみ。
Please include the preceding words just to be sure.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 17 hrs (2006-08-11 21:30:04 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
The suppostion, raised by a peer, that we’re talking about
“blemishes”, not “age spots”, is a valid one to consider. But I
believe age spots remains the correct translation. Though the selected Japanese passage we are working with is brief, I believe we have enough context to compare it, show similarities with other Japanese text (which I’ll reference further below), and safely conclude that we are talking about “age spots”.
But before that, “age spots”, though of course more prevalent in older people than younger ones, is THE TERM use to describe a condition. As I mentioned elsewhere, I, myself, started getting age spots on the back of my hand at age 30. The modifier “age” does not restrict usage to the term to “the aged” anymore than the modifier “widow” restricts “widow’s peaks” to widows.
Now, ultimately I will defer to all my friends of the fairer sex on the following, but it does seem to me that “blemishes”, though
not necessarily, are usually the bane of younger people and are often(though, again, not always) associated with acne.
If you were to ask someone, “Quick! What’s a blemish?” I
think their initial reaction would affirm my point. Conversely,
when one sees an age spot on one’s cheek, forearm, or wherever, one thinks, “Oh-oh! I have an age-spot!” not “blemish”.
So which is it? Blemishes or age spots. Well, when speaking in Japanese, though I’m not a native speaker, I feel pretty confident that しみ most commonly is referring to what we
native English speakers call “age spots”. Here’s a few lines
from a Japanese website:
The message, combined with the images of a youngish housewife, I believe, say it all. And then the clickable button
with “しみ・くすみの原因＂ use the exact same terms from
our asker’s, Conejo’s, passage.
Here’s the URL: http://www.saishunkan.co.jp/domo/sign/
I humbly rest my case.
Joe L United States Local time: 22:17 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Thanks everyone!
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The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +2
