Frankly, My Dear …: Part 2
Friday, February 15th, 2008
| Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary |
My cousin Lois has a useful motto: Start with the truth. No matter how difficult a situation is, you won’t get anywhere by lying to yourself about the facts.
My husband has also taught me something about the truth: Whenever someone says “Frankly, …” you should be on guard. The person might as well have said, “What I’m about to say will be tactless and cruel.”
In Japanese, starting with the truth means starting with 実, the kanji we investigated last week. This character works its way into all manner of expressions related to truth and reality, including this sampling:
実は (jitsu wa: in fact, as a matter of fact, by the way)
Merely combining the kanji with the subject marker は yields a useful phrase.
実のところ (jitsu no tokoro: as a matter of fact; to tell the truth)
I like to think that since tokoro means “place” (or an abstract state), this expression puts you in the place where truth lies. You can use 実のところ exactly the same way as 実は.
Sample Sentences with
実は and 実のところ …
実際 (jissai: truth, reality, actual, real, practical)
reality + occasion, time
事実 (jijitsu: fact, truth, reality) fact + reality
真実 (shinjitsu: truth) truth + reality
Posted by Eve Kushner in Kanji Curiosity | 5 Comments »
