# asian translation help **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782 "2006-11-25T21:27:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![njcultist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@njcultist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njcultist)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/1 "2006-11-25T21:27:56Z")
[http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/9696/weeabooee4.jpg](http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/9696/weeabooee4.jpg) What does this say? Someone wrote it in the dust on my car. I think it’s Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/2 "2006-11-25T23:23:02Z")
I read “adoshite no ne + koino”. What that means, I have no idea. Correcting something… blah blah blah. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/3 "2006-11-25T23:26:01Z")
Yeah, seems to say adoshitenoneta. Doesn’t mean anything I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/4 "2006-11-26T01:24:58Z")
You are both wrong - reading handwritten hiragana can be tricky. The syllables are SU DO NI NO NE TA I NO. But I haven’t a clue what it means - my Japanese dictionary has failed me. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/5 "2006-11-26T01:49:46Z")
Wash me? ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/6 "2006-11-26T02:55:40Z")
> [@](#): > > You are both wrong - reading handwritten hiragana can be tricky. > > The syllables are SU DO NI NO NE TA I NO. > > But I haven’t a clue what it means - my Japanese dictionary has failed me. It’s actually Russian: С донны[м] но не тайно – “With the bottom [thing] but not secretly.” Hope this helps. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/7 "2006-11-26T03:29:59Z")
It’s definately Japanese hiragana…but I have no idea what it means. :o ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/8 "2006-11-26T03:58:38Z")
I’m reading すどして の ねたぃの _sudoshite no ne taino_. Something about indigenous people of the Caribbean, I think. Is the first word related to Sudoku? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/9 "2006-11-26T04:02:11Z")
[QUOTE=China Guy] It’s definately Japanese hiragana… [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t it be odd to write something completely in hiragana? Does that give some clue about what the person might be up to? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/10 "2006-11-26T04:17:15Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Wouldn’t it be odd to write something completely in hiragana? [/QUOTE] For a short snippet like that, not at all unusual. And I’m sure the first character is **a** , not **su**. It clearly has 3 strokes. **su** is only 2 strokes. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/11 "2006-11-26T04:21:40Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] You are both wrong - reading handwritten hiragana can be tricky. The syllables are SU DO NI NO NE TA I NO. But I haven’t a clue what it means - my Japanese dictionary has failed me. [/QUOTE] “You can get this eleven inch Sudoku knife; but wait! If you call right now, you’ll get (at no extra cost) this mandoline that slices waffle cut potatoes and shreds your old CDs! Not only that, we’ll throw in H&R Block tax software to save you thousands on your income taxes.” I think it also says “wear condoms,” or “live in condos,” but I’m not sure. This new Martha Stewart translator site is amazing. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![EnginNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@EnginNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnginNerd)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/12 "2006-11-26T05:10:28Z")
I’m far from fluent but have been studying Japanese for a while. It seems oddly formed to me, it says “sudoshite no netai no”… Which could mean, “I did Sudoku and now I want to sleep!” But I’m not sure why that first “no” is in there… Sudo is sometimes a contracted form of Suudoku. Shite is a conjugated form of Suru, meaning “to do”, this form means, “do and” implying a temporal sequence. “Netai no” means, I want to sleep… Just a possible theory… ---
**Author:** ![EnginNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@EnginNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnginNerd)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/13 "2006-11-26T05:12:57Z")
Actually, on further review, the first character does look more like a “A” than a “Su”… In that case, maybe they mean “Ah, doushite no netai no,” Which could be a strange way of asking someone why they want to sleep… ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/14 "2006-11-26T10:57:13Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] For a short snippet like that, not at all unusual. And I’m sure the first character is **a** , not **su**. It clearly has 3 strokes. **su** is only 2 strokes. [/QUOTE] That’s how they teach it to kids at school, but I \*have \*seen \*\*su \*\*written with the loop as a separate stroke. People don’t always write as they were taught to. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/15 "2006-11-26T11:05:57Z")
[QUOTE=EnginNerd] I’m far from fluent but have been studying Japanese for a while. It seems oddly formed to me, it says “sudoshite no netai no”… [/QUOTE] The character(s) you (and others) are interpreting as “shi te” still looks to me like a single character “ni”. But even if you’re right I still can’t make it mean anything sensible. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/16 "2006-11-26T11:11:27Z")
[QUOTE=Random] Wash me? [/QUOTE] “I wish my wife was this dirty.” ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/17 "2006-11-26T11:33:38Z")
It doesn’t look like native handwriting to me. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/18 "2006-11-26T13:29:56Z")
[QUOTE=EnginNerd] Actually, on further review, the first character does look more like a “A” than a “Su”… In that case, maybe they mean “Ah, doushite no netai no,” Which could be a strange way of asking someone why they want to sleep… [/QUOTE] If that were the case you’d be needing a double “a”, and after the “do” a “u”. It would be useful to know where this vandalism occurred, if the OP was parking in an area known to be frequented either by a high population of either American otaku or retarded Japanese children. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/19 "2006-11-26T15:32:57Z")
Nope, even retarded Japanese would write better than this. It’s an American otaku. Please note that while the “a” is particularly bad, the “ne” is missing a stroke and the balance sucks. I would guess that I wrote it, but I wasn’t in the OP’s area. ---
**Author:** ![EnginNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@EnginNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnginNerd)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782/20 "2006-11-26T18:06:56Z")
[QUOTE=Brain Wreck] If that were the case you’d be needing a double “a”, and after the “do” a “u”. [/QUOTE] Yeah, it was a stretch, as I’d usually expect to see it as 「あぁ」、「ああ」、 or 「あっ」… But it seems apparent from the handwriting that this may be someone that is just learning the language… (okay, of course, I’ve been able to read/write kana for 12 years and it still looks almost as sloppy as this, though (but at least my spelling is usually correct!) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-translation-help/381782.md?page=2)