Taken at face value, this compound has never made much sense to me. Faction-hand?
The first time I heard this word, it was in the form of a question posed by an ex-girlfriend: ね〜、派手な女好き？ Going by the dictionary definition of the word, it was hard to imagine what she meant. “Do you like gaudy women?” The explanation came when I looked over at the woman who had sparked the question in the first place. She was hot, wore lots of make up, high heels, and a skin-tight skirt. Ever since that question, that is how I imagine 派手.
Fugu is the fish famous for being so potentially deadly, that only specialized chefs are allowed to prepare it. I must admit that I had never seen this word written in kanji before today. My experience is that the word is normally written in hiragana, a somewhat common practice for when oddly-pronounced or complex kanji are involved. Still, “river pig” has a certain ring to it, don’t you think?
I’m not really sure of the etymology of this word, but I rather like the sound of “imitating the rope.” Interestingly, 検索 [けんさく] (investigate-rope) means “to look (something) up” (e.g. a word) and 索引 [さくいん] (rope-pull) means “index” (e.g. a book).
“Kidnapped noodles” doesn’t make much sense, does it? Neither does “crushed noodles.” This may be because the Japanese appear to have borrowed the character from China, but not the meaning. In Chinese, 拉 means “to pull.” That said, “pulled noodles” makes a lot more sense, provided that you know how hand-pulled noodles are made in Japan and China.
Normally, you will see “ramen” written in katakana: ラーメン. However, I did see 拉麺 recently in a Chinese noodle shop. Since I was in a noodle-y mood, knowing how to read it came in handy.
[Venice (U.S., Louisiana) May 26th, Reuters] Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said on the 26th that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has effected intrastate coastlines for as much as 100 miles (160 km).
The governor criticized international oil company British Petroleum and Federal authorities of doing “too little, too late.” He complained that an oil-spill containment boom and oil recovery vessels were needed to protect the coastline.
In comments to the press corps broadcast on CNN, Governor Jindal announced that “more than 100 miles of our shoreline have already been impacted by this oil spill.”
