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Help translating some words in Japanese 2007/10/26 11:55
Hello there!
I need a little help. I have this project I'm working on and I need the Japanese translation for a few words, please. The words are:
"Sour" - as in something that tastes sour.
"Illusion" - as in something that isn't real.

To give you an idea what I'm talking about in particular, these two words are part of the names for alcoholic drinks containing the melon liqueur, Midori. As in "Midori Sour" and "Midori Illusion".

Also, can either of these two words be used as a name for a person? Such as a persons surname(family name)?

Thank you!
by Nik  

I'm just a begginer but... 2007/10/26 22:49
I am pretty sure sour is suppai, not sure about illusion.

I am not sure that it would be really translated though as it is a foreign object's name. I would probably expect to see it phonetically in katakana. I'm just a beginner student though, so I'm not too sure.
by Ben rate this post as useful

help 2007/10/27 00:29
Both of two words are given to a paticular cocktail in JP and familiar for it. You must feel strange the word such as ''illusion'' is used. I think it comes from the appearance of color.

next. You don't use those words for a person's name unless in novel or something like fiction stories.

I am a jp.
by hirox rate this post as useful

. 2007/10/30 20:36
Well, yeah, actually it is for a fiction story! Good guess. The characters' first name is Midori and I thought it would be funny to do a play on words and make her last name the Japanese equivalent to ''Sour'' or ''Illusion'', like the drinks.

I actually did finally find ''sour'' while browsing on the internet for a while(which, like you guys said is ''suppai'') but I still can't find ''illusion''.

Anybody else out there that might can help? Since it is for a fiction anyway, can these words be used as a surname(family) for a character?
by Nik rate this post as useful

. 2007/10/30 21:31
you could use the family name madoi 窓井
According to my dictionary it actually exists and can mean ''illusion''
惑い まどい delusion; illusion; infatuation; bewilderment; perplexity

www.jisho.org ---- the dictionary i use
by girl rate this post as useful

in addition to my post 2007/10/30 21:34
I should mention though that the name "madoi" and the word "madoi" are written in different kanji, so i dont think the "play on words" thing would be very obvious from it. I doubt either the name or the word is often used in Japanese so it is probably odd to Japanese ppl..
by girl rate this post as useful

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