Words April 2024 Week 3

I wanted the pottery more than the furikake. (Furikake is basically a mixture of sesame seeds, seaweeds, herbs, fish flakes, and salt and gets its name from the Japanese term for sprinkles.)

I didn’t watch the pot. (She was boiling the alcohol off the sake.)

I smelled smoke. (I smelled something burning.)

Her left side was paralyzed. (She had a stroke.)

We take turns going clockwise. (Clockwise the same direction in which the hands of a clock move around. "Turn the knob clockwise.")

I had writer’s block. (I couldn’t think of anything to write.)

I stepped on the cigarette to put it out. (Someone dropped a burning cigarette in the parking lot.)

A punchline is the final phrase or sentence of a joke or story, providing the humor or some other crucial element. (The person said that her story had no punchline. This is ok, but since the word is usually used about jokes, I would say, “My story has no useful information.”)

He was tired. (The bus ride was 12 hours long.)

It was tiring. (The bus ride made him tired.)

I could practice speaking in English. (Her friend’s daughter speaks Czech or English. In 1992, Czechoslovakia was peacefully divided into two independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.)

They own a river rafting business on the Tama River. (They use rubber rafts.)

The meat was tough. (Don’t say that the meat was “hard.”)

A place that receives less than 25 centimeters of precipitation per year is considered a desert. (Antarctica has about 20 centimeters of precipitation a year.)

Turn that frown upside down. (Smile!)

I was interviewed for an article for the June edition of the Ome Welfare Center newsletter. (The article is about a volunteer group that teaches Japanese to foreigners living in Japan.)

She asked me what I prepared for the parade participants snacks and drinks last year. (The group carrying the portable shrine will take a rest in their neighborhood.)

She is a train conductor. (She works on the Tsugaru Train in Aomori.)

He wore street clothes while exercising in the gym. (Street clothes are regular clothes, not exercise clothes.)

The new shop sells fermented foods. (So far, it is not so popular.)

They were playing pickleball. (This game is getting very popular. It is similar to tennis, but the ball is plastic, and the racket is solid like a huge table tennis paddle and the net is very low.)

The Osaka Expo will open one year from today. (There are many problems getting ready for the event.)

He is a third-year junior high school student. (He is in the ninth grade. Do not say, “He is in the third-grade junior high school.)

She missed too many days of school so she couldn’t graduate. (She has a mental problem about attending school.)

I have cobwebs in my head. (He can’t think straight.)