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HelpRe: Japanese models' names
in reply to a message by mitsouko
Thanks for this post, it's really interesting.
I'm curious - Chihiro 千尋 was the name used in this movie
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245429/
I've seen people saying it means "thousand questions" which fits what you say, I guess. Wikipedia says the meaning is "thousand fathoms." The English word "fathom" can be used as a verb sort of like inquire or question ... is that a good approximation of the translation, or is it as general as "inquire"?
Interesting:
(etymonline.com)
fathom - O.E. fæðmian "to embrace, surround, envelop;" see fathom (n.). The meaning "take soundings" is from c.1600; its figurative sense of "get to the bottom of, understand" is 1620s.
inquire - late 13c., from O.Fr. enquerre, from V.L. *inquærere, from L. in- "into" + quærere "ask, seek" (see query). Respelled 14c. on L. model, but half-Latinized enquire still persists. Related: Inquired; inquiring; inquiringly.
(wordnet)
fathom - penetrate, come to understand
inquire - ask, wonder, investigate
As an aside, I think it's amusing how the origin of fathom make it a feminine concept, while the modern definition makes it synonymous with penetrate (because of taking soundings).
Anyway, what I want to know is: What captures the meaning of Chihiro better - thousand questions being asked, or thousand questions to be asked?
I'm curious - Chihiro 千尋 was the name used in this movie
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245429/
I've seen people saying it means "thousand questions" which fits what you say, I guess. Wikipedia says the meaning is "thousand fathoms." The English word "fathom" can be used as a verb sort of like inquire or question ... is that a good approximation of the translation, or is it as general as "inquire"?
Interesting:
(etymonline.com)
fathom - O.E. fæðmian "to embrace, surround, envelop;" see fathom (n.). The meaning "take soundings" is from c.1600; its figurative sense of "get to the bottom of, understand" is 1620s.
inquire - late 13c., from O.Fr. enquerre, from V.L. *inquærere, from L. in- "into" + quærere "ask, seek" (see query). Respelled 14c. on L. model, but half-Latinized enquire still persists. Related: Inquired; inquiring; inquiringly.
(wordnet)
fathom - penetrate, come to understand
inquire - ask, wonder, investigate
As an aside, I think it's amusing how the origin of fathom make it a feminine concept, while the modern definition makes it synonymous with penetrate (because of taking soundings).
Anyway, what I want to know is: What captures the meaning of Chihiro better - thousand questions being asked, or thousand questions to be asked?
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