#measurement

You are Isotopes (Part III)

This is the third part of a seriesaboutisotopesand why they’re useful and interesting to scientists.

Isotopes are the flavors of elements. And because our universe is made up of atoms of elements, every object can be thought of as a delicious smoothie of flavors. Scientists like me are trying to reverse engineer those mixtures and pick out individual tastes, in order to answer questions about…

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raginrayguns:

wait, so homeownership gets included in GDP as “imputed rents”? I mean, that maeks sense, but couldn’t we do the same thing for sex? Like every time you have sex with your spouse, the GDP goes up by the amount that it would have cost to pay for sex.

I think the more usual examples are stuff like paying for restaurant meals showing up versus the work done for homecooked meals not showing up, but yes, the issue of unpaid household labor and GDP is a real one.

Why do people facebook post how long their baby is?

Like what is this supposed to mean to me?

Why is this significant?

How am I supposed to interpret the measurement?

Good afternoon, everybody! 

So, we’re really around 8 issues away from finishing kanji you’re likely to learn in 1st grade! Really, I find with Kanji the more you know, the less you know you know off the top of your head. It’s a percentages thing.

So, let’s start! First is 年, a pretty common kanji that means ‘year’. 年 is a picture of a thousand (千) of grains (禾). In the old days, this also meant 'harvest’. In other words, after a thousand grains were harvested, a year had passed. It’s always used in its 'year’ meaning. 

Examples:

今年: This year

毎年: Every year

年齢: Age, years (like “for someone of his age, he’s smart”)

Next is 青. Most beginners learn it in its い-adjective form to mean 'blue’. However, technically, it’s more of blue-green, or the color of plants. It also can mean 'young’. 青 is supposed to be plants (生) under the moonlight (月), which I can see if you were looking at it from above. It’s also a very common kanji for a girl’s name, but some boys also have it.

Examples:

青年: youth

青葉: fresh leaves

青写真: blueprint

青果: fruits and vegetables

青ざめる: to become pale

In regards to 青ざめる, it translates to 'become pale’ because one of 青い (only as an い-adjective)’s meanings is 'pale’. So it literally means 'to fade to pale’.

So next is 晴. This is the sun (日) borrowing the solo pronunciation of 青. It meas 'clear up’ in terms of weather. It can also mean to dispel (as it to get rid of something negative). It’s a pretty simple kanji. Just a note though, 晴 by itself is a NOUN. There is an adjective form though.

晴れる: to clear up

晴れやかな: clear, bright 

素晴らしい: wonderful

晴れ着: one’s best clothes

先 is the first character in 先生. Its meaning is “beforehand” or “previous”. In general, all its meanings are akin to this. It’s supposed to be progress as symbolized by a plant (屮) rising from the ground (一) along with walking feet (儿).

…I’m not sure what that supposed to mean, but I can the two separate images of a plant growing and feet walking forward. Those in the past have grown more and walked further, so it’s essentially before you.

先 is used by itself to mean 'previous, but is also common in words:

先月: last month

優先: preference, priority

先日: the other day

先送り: postpone

寸 isn’t a very common kanji, but it’s used in a really common word so we’ll go over it. 寸’s meaning by itself is 'measurement’, 'foot’, or 'sun’. And by 'sun’ I don’t mean the Sun. The word 'sun’ is a reference to approximately 3.03 centimeters. It’s supposed to be a right hand (又) with a dot (丶), which would reference to the thumb. In the past, it did mean 'thumb’, but things change. 

The word that 寸 is used in is ちょっと. It’s often written in hiragana, but its kanji is 一寸 and it literally means 'one inch’ and a step further 'a little bit’. This is what people say when they say 'ちょっとまって’. This means “wait a little bit”. 

寸 is also used a some uncommon words:

寸前: on the verge

寸分: tiny bit

寸々: to pieces

寸暇: a moment’s leisure.

Despite 寸’s kanji status, it is likely more often seen as a radical instead, like in 村. 村 is 木 + the pronunciation of 寸. It means 'town’ or 'village’. It’s a pretty basic kanji, and can be used by itself.

農村: agricultural villages

山村: mountain villages

村人: villagers

村内: interior of a village

So that’s all for today! Remember, please ask for any Japanese related questions!