めっ面

English translation: (a) frown, grimace, scowl

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Japanese term or phrase:しかめっ面
English translation:(a) frown, grimace, scowl
Entered by: Roddy Stegemann

04:56 Feb 15, 2010
Japanese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Journalism / Comparitive Culture
Japanese term or phrase: めっ面
Is this an abbreviation, a misprint, a term that I cannot find in my available dictionaries, or a poor understanding of Japanese grammar on my part?

「...そこに見られる黙ってしかめっ面をしていて、ときどきぽつんぽつんとへんなことを言う土地神のしぐさのなかに...」
Roddy Stegemann
United States
Local time: 03:26
scowl
Explanation:
alternative
http://insidestoryflashcards.com/printable_flashcards/index....

しかめっつら 顰めっ面
しかめっ面をする frown [scowl] 《at, on》; knit one's brows; grimace 《at》; make grimaces [a wry face]
しかめっ面をして with a frown [grimace]; with knitted brows.
http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/顰めっ面
Selected response from:

cinefil
Japan
Local time: 19:26
Grading comment
I want to thank everyone for their input, but most of all to Yasatomo for turning me on to KOTOBANK. I even downloaded the Firefox plug-in and installed it into my browser -- very handy.

In the end Shinji (cinefil) provided me with all of the information I required to solve the mystery on my own. As Yasutomo and Tina have indirectly suggested, it was my poorly conceived grammatical interpretation that led me astray. Truly, I looked for some sort of negation to go with しか, but could not find any. So, I blamed my confusion on Tsurum Shunsuke's sloppy writing style and turned to ProZ for help.

Tsurumi has so shaken my Japanese grammatical foundation during the past few weeks that I am no longer sure about anything. Of course, a little shaking loosens the ground and brings down poorly constructed old buildings, so that new ones can be built. Moreover, when I am unable to understand him, he does have a lot of interesting things to say.

As I can only award my points to one person and Shinji was first with his discussion entry, I must award my points to him.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +1grimace, sulky face
Tina Wooden
4frown
Yasu Hosomatsu
2scowl
cinefil
Summary of reference entries provided
FYR
Yasutomo Kanazawa

Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
しかめっ面
grimace, sulky face


Explanation:
You're just cutting it off at the wrong point.

It means to contort one's face in an expression of distaste or displeasure.

Tina Wooden
United States
Local time: 06:26
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in JapaneseJapanese

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Yasutomo Kanazawa
0 min
  -> どうも! ^_^
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7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
frown


Explanation:
「めっ面」ではなくて「しかめっ面」です。しかめっ面はfrown とかgrimaceなどと訳されます。

Yasu Hosomatsu
Local time: 03:26
Works in field
Native speaker of: Japanese
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19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
しかめっ面
scowl


Explanation:
alternative
http://insidestoryflashcards.com/printable_flashcards/index....

しかめっつら 顰めっ面
しかめっ面をする frown [scowl] 《at, on》; knit one's brows; grimace 《at》; make grimaces [a wry face]
しかめっ面をして with a frown [grimace]; with knitted brows.
http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/顰めっ面


cinefil
Japan
Local time: 19:26
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
PRO pts in category: 3
Grading comment
I want to thank everyone for their input, but most of all to Yasatomo for turning me on to KOTOBANK. I even downloaded the Firefox plug-in and installed it into my browser -- very handy.

In the end Shinji (cinefil) provided me with all of the information I required to solve the mystery on my own. As Yasutomo and Tina have indirectly suggested, it was my poorly conceived grammatical interpretation that led me astray. Truly, I looked for some sort of negation to go with しか, but could not find any. So, I blamed my confusion on Tsurum Shunsuke's sloppy writing style and turned to ProZ for help.

Tsurumi has so shaken my Japanese grammatical foundation during the past few weeks that I am no longer sure about anything. Of course, a little shaking loosens the ground and brings down poorly constructed old buildings, so that new ones can be built. Moreover, when I am unable to understand him, he does have a lot of interesting things to say.

As I can only award my points to one person and Shinji was first with his discussion entry, I must award my points to him.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)




Reference comments


6 mins
Reference: FYR

Reference information:
Should read しかめっつら。Not a typo, abbreviation nor misprint.

http://kotobank.jp/word/顰めっ面

Yasutomo Kanazawa
Japan
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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