When one Japanese Twitter user shared a photo of their rice down on the kitchen carpet, it sparked a whole thread of cooking fails that’ll make you smile and remind you that kitchen fails happen to the best of us.
And judging by the number of pics and replies @maple2692 got, tragic rice and spilling incidents seem to happen a lot in Japan!
Rice beyond rescue
がいた。
=
“All the rice cried.”
*This is a pun made with a classic punchline to promote American movies in Japan, “all Americans (who watched the movie) cried“. The other reading can mean “the whole pot of rice cried“.
がもくをかせております。してさい。
=
“At our home, we also often make rice cry. Cheer up.”
りすがりです。
まだいたならはない、、、。
=
“Just passing by.
At least, after the rice is cooked, the damage is minimal…”
Flying saucepan
We don’t want to be the ones who have to clean that up!
もでミートソースのをとしたんだけどあまりにスプラッターでっちゃいましたw
=
“I dropped the meat sauce pot in the kitchen, it splattered so much it made me laugh lol”
もやりました
=
“I’ve done it too”
Break an egg
りすがりですがTKGにどうぞ
=
“Just passing by, here’s some eggs for your rice”
Here, TKG stands for かけご飯 (eggs over rice).
しながらけたらちてきて うわエッグー！とでってしまいました
=
“While I was on the phone, I opened the door of the fridge causing eggs to fall out, and without thinking I naturally said Uwah! Eggs!!”
エグ(い) is a modern word used by young people as a reaction to a creepy, cruel, annoying, tight, or hard situation. The etymology is エグ(み)“egumi”, which refers to a taste that is strong and irritating to the throat and tongue. *エッグーis a pun used with this word and egg.*
How to use the words あまり, あまりに and あまりにも
The word あまり generally means an excess or overdose of something and is used in various expressions that all relate to something going over the limit.
- あまり is used with nouns and verbs and it’s position in a sentence can vary.
When used with a noun, you should always connect the noun with the particle の.
のあまり、えしました = I made a mistake because I was too nervous.
When used with a verb, あまり resemble the suffix すぎる (which also translates to “too much”).
するあまり (=集中すぎる)、をれる = I was concentrating too much and forget about time.
- あまりに and あまりにも are phrases used before verbs, adjectives, and nouns. も adds emphasis.
あまりにすぎて、がくなった= I was so anxious, I became sick.
あまりにもしい = Too sad a story.
What can be confusing is that when used negatively, あまり can also mean the (excessive) lack of something. So you should pay attention to the JLPT N4 expression あまり〜ない. Used in combination with a negative adjective or verb, the phrase translates “not very much”, “not at all”.
あまりまない = I don’t drink alcohol much.
あまり良くない = It’s not very good.
Vocabulary
全米が泣いた zenbei ga naita Set marketing expression in the movie industry that means “all Americans cried” 我が家 wa ga ya my/our home 通りすがりです toori sugari desu “Just passing by” a term often used on Twitter Japan 米を炊く kome o taku make rice 被害 higai damage 調理場 chyouriba (professional) kitchen ながら nagara “while” see Tweet of the Week #69 エグ(い) egu(i) creepy, cruel, annoying, tight, hard
