LITMIR.BIZ

      SENPAI:

      Kaeri ga osokatta ne. Doko de abura o utte itan' da?

      KŌHAI:

      Abura nanka utte imasen. Chanto shigoto o shite imashita yo.

      SENIOR:

      You're late getting back. Where were you loafing off?

      JUNIOR:

      I wasn't loafing off! I've been busy working.

      Abura o uru means either to pass the time by engaging in idle talk or to waste time while at work or while attending to something. During the Edo period, people bought lantern oil from wandering merchants. When the oil containers became low, the oil would become viscous and thus took longer to pour. When this happened, the merchants would engage the housewives in light conversation. From this came the meaning of idling away one's time.

      EXAMPLES

      1. Doko de abura o utte ita no desu ka?

       Where have you been loafing?

      2. Konna tokoro de abura o utte inaide, shigoto o shinasai.

       Stop shooting the breeze—here, of all places—and get back to work!

      3. Kare wa doko de abura o utte iru no ka, mada kaeranai.

       He's still not back. Where can he be loafing off?

      4. Anata ni wa, watashi ga abura o utte iru yō ni mierun' desu ka?

       Does it look to you as if I'm loafing off?

      5. Kanojo wa shigoto-chu ni muda-banashi o shite, abura bakari utte iru.

       She does nothing but gossip at work.

      ago de tsukau

      boss around

      OTTO:

      Oi, soko no shinbun, totte kurenai ka? Ā, megane mo.

      TSUMA:

      Hito no koto, ago de tsukawanaide, jibun de nasattara ii noni.

      HUSBAND:

      Hey, would you get me that newspaper over there? Oh, and my glasses too.

      WIFE:

      Instead of bossing other people around, you should do it yourself.

      Ago de tsukau, literally "to use the chin," means to order someone around or to have someone at one's beck and call. This expression comes from the way people tend to stick out their chins when ordering others to do something. Another expression using ago is ago o dasu, which means to bum oneself out.

      EXAMPLES

      1. Shachō wa itsumo, shain o ago de tsukatte iru.

       The boss is always ordering the employees around.

      2. Hito o ago de tsukaeru tachiba de wa arimasen.

       You are in no position to be ordering people around.

      3. Kare ni ago de tsukawareru yō de wa, o-shimai da.

       It's all over once he starts ordering you around.

      4. Kare no ago de hito o tsukau taido ni wa, gaman dekinai.

       I just can't put up with the way he orders people about.

      5. Kachō wa buka o ago de tsukatte iru.

       The section chief orders his subordinates around relentlessly.

      aiso ga tsukiru

      lose patience with, lose interest in

      MUSUKO:

      Otōsan, boku, arubaito-saki, kubi ni natta yo.

      CHICHIOYA:

      Chikoku bakari shita kara da. Shachō mo kitto omae ni aiso ga tsukitan' da yo.

      SON:

      Dad, I've been fired from my part-time job.

      FATHER:

      It's because you were always late. You must have tried your boss's patience to the limit.

      Aiso (affability) is a shortened form of aiso, and together with tsukiru (use up) implies completely losing patience or interest. Other forms of this expression are aiso o tsukasu (be fed up), aiso o tsukasareru (be given up by someone), and aiso-zukashi (spiteful remarks).

      EXAMPLES

      1. Uso bakari tsuku node, kare ni wa aiso ga tsukimashita.

       He's such an habitual liar. I've had it with him.

      2. Kare wa, koibito ni aiso o tsukasareta yō desu yo.

       It appears that his girlfriend has lost patience with him.

      3. Anna hito nara, kanojo ga aiso o tsukasu no mo tozen desu.

       It's only to be expected that she'd lose interest in someone like that.

      4. Shomin o wasureta seijika ni wa, sukkari aiso ga tsukite shimatta.

       I'm tired of politicians who don't care about the public.

      5. Kanojo wa uwaki suru otto ni aiso ga tsuki, rikon suru koto ni shita.

       She was fed up with her unfaithful husband, so she divorced him.

      aizuchi o utsu

      chime in

      BUCHŌ:

      Kono yō ni susumetai to omoun' da ga.

      BUKA:

      Ē, sore de iin ja nai deshō ka?

      BUCHŌ:

      Sakki kara, kind wa aizuchi o utsu dake dejibun no iken o iwanai ne.

      DEPARTMENT CHIEF:

      This is the kind of direction I'd like to move in.

      SUBORDINATE:

      Yes, I guess that would be fine.

      DEPARTMENT CHIEF:

      You've just been echoing me and not giving me your own opinions on the matter.

      Aizuchi o utsu, literally "a set of hammers striking," originally described when an apprentice blacksmith worked with the master and they would coordinate their hammer strokes, one striking after the other. Thus, the expression refers to tactful responses that keep a conversation moving, phrases like "I see" and "really?"

      EXAMPLES

      1. Kare wa hito no hanashi ni aizuchi o utte bakari iru.

       All he does when you talk to him is agree with what you say.

      2. Dōshite, aizuchi bakari utsuri desu ka?

       Why do you only echo what I'm saying?

      3. Ē? Kare ga aizuchi o uttan' desu ka?

       What? You mean you actually got a response out of him?

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