horse's ass

Japanese translation: とんま

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	horse's ass
Japanese translation:	とんま
Entered by:	Roddy Stegemann

00:40 Oct 21, 2002

English to Japanese translations [PRO]
/ Banality

English term or phrase: horse's ass

I have had no trouble finding good definitions for either horse or ass, but I am having a great deal of trouble finding one that combines the two words into a single Japanese term.

Although there were many occasions where swearing would have been appropriate (at least from a USAmerican point of view) while I was still living in Japan, it is one thing I never learned to do very well.

Could someone be of help? If your response is too vulgar and inappropriate for the ProZ environment, please send your reply in a private email. You will have the honor of teaching me my first Japanese vulgarity. Once again, a variety of response would be appreciated.

Although it is probably the case that many Japanese have sworn at me, it was probably at a time when I was still new to the language, or was uttered in too low of a tone that I could not hear it sufficiently well to recognize as different from normal Japanese undertones.
Then too, I must also confess a profound ignorance of Japanese "l'argot".

Many Japanese have told me that Japanese rarely swear. Perhaps my ignorance is a result of that tradition.

In Hong Kong swearing is quite popular, so please forgive me, if I have dared to breach the subject here.

Sincerely,

Hamo

Roddy Stegemann KudoZ activity Questions: 666 (4 open) (6 without valid answers) (3 closed without grading) Answers: 1221 United States
Local time: 10:18

とんま、、、

Explanation:
It would be nonsense if you translate this expression literally. It would mean something like:

とんま (tonma)
まぬけ (manuke)
愚か者 (orokamono)
能なし (nounashi)
ぐず (guzu)
ぼんくら (bonkura)

Hope it helps.

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Note added at 2002-10-21 01:01:25 (GMT)
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狽ﾈし：能¥なし

Selected response from:

ejprotran
Local time: 02:18

Grading comment

Thank you Satnii for the great list of epithets. With your assistance I even found the Sino-Japanese characters for とんま. It is 頓馬 -- a most fitting expression for the context in which the question was asked.

Also, my thanks to John for his additional contribution. No, reference was required, however. I avoided Japanese television like the plague.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +4

とんま、、、

ejprotran

アホ

Kevin Snow

Answers

20 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

とんま、、、

ejprotran
Local time: 02:18
Native speaker of:

Japanese
PRO pts in pair: 226

Grading comment

1 hr confidence:

アホ

Explanation:
Since the accepted meaning of a
horse's ass is "jerk", you might also
use a common term (although
severity is different depending on
where you are in Japan) of アホ

If you've spent any time in Japan,
no doubt you've heard comedians
from Kansai use this with quite
regular frequency.

Kevin Snow
United States
Local time: 10:18
PRO pts in pair: 2

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Japanese translation: とんま

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