余談 (yodan: digression) excess + talk
Both kanji in this compound beg for further discussion. You may know 談 from 相談 (sōdan: consultation, mutual + talk), a compound that has always struck me as crazy, because consultation often occurs between a superior and inferior and doesn’t feel mutual in the least. Also, the components in 談—”word” (言) and two “fires” (火)—make little sense together. Henshall says they combine to mean a “spirited discussion.” But another source indicates that the two blazes lend a calmness to 談, making for a subdued talk.
I’ve accepted such idiosyncrasies, as one eventually tends to do with kanji (after the initial shock). These days, I’m more curious about 余, because although it can mean “too much” (and is actually closer to “additional” in 余談), I think of 余 as having the opposite meaning. That is, 余 is amari, which we always see in hiragana, often in negative constructions such as あまり分かりません (amari wakarimasen: (I) don’t understand much).The truth is, this negative usage isn’t really a deviation. Rather, the negativity of the negative verb leaks out and seeps into “much,” making 余 mean “not much” in such contexts.
I never seem to recognize 余 when I see it. All my language partners have written me email containing 余 words, and I’ve had to look those words up every time. Below, you’ll find the words and sentences that mystified me in those emails. When certain words appear repeatedly from sentence to sentence, I’ve defined them just once.
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1. 余裕 (yoyū: surplus, margin, time) excess + abundant
a. それが終われば少し余裕ができるので、ゆっくりメールしますね。
Sore ga owareba sukoshi yoyū ga dekiru node, yukkuri mēru shimasune.
When I finish that, I’ll have more time, so I can email you in a leisurely way, OK?終 (o(waru): to finish)
少 (suko(shi): a little)b. 朝、余裕をもって、早く出発する。
Asa, yoyū o motte, hayaku shuppatsu suru.
This morning, I’m going to leave early so as to arrive with plenty of time to spare.Note that he didn’t use 時間 (jikan: time) in his sentence. The expression 余裕をもって strikes me as nifty and efficient!
朝 (asa: morning)
早 (haya(i): early)
出発 (shuppatsu: departure)
to leave + to set out
2. 余分 (yobun: extra, excess, surplus)
余分な名詞が１つと、タイポが１つです。
Yobunna meishi ga hitotsu to, taipo ga hitotsu desu.
There’s an extra noun and one typo.名詞 (meishi: noun) name + part of speech
3. 余程 (yohodo: very, greatly, much, to a large extent, quite)
12時間寝続けるのは、余程疲れていた。
Jūni-jikan netsuzukeru no wa, yohodo tsukarete ita.
To keep sleeping for 12 hours means you must have been really tired.時間 (jikan: hours, time) hour + interval
寝 (ne(ru): to sleep)
—続 (tsuzu(keru): suffix meaning to keep doing something)
疲 (tsuka(reru): to be tired)
4. 余 (ama(ru): to remain, be left over, be in excess)
スカイプアウトですがプリペイドの時間が大量に余っていたので少しでもそれを使ってやろうと。
SukaipuAuto desu ga puripeido no jikan ga tairyō ni amatte ita node sukoshi demo sore o tsukatte yarō to.
I have a lot of excess prepaid SkypeOut time, so I want to use a little.大量 (tairyō: large quantity) big + quantity
使 (tsuka(u): to use)
5. 余計なお世話 (yokeina osewa: giving unwanted help or advice)
余計 (yokei: excess, needless) excess + total
世話 (sewa: help, assistance) earthly + talkI’m not sure what to make of Halpern’s assessment of this 世 as “worldly, earthly, public, popular.” But his definition of 話 here makes 世話 seem to be a verbal type of assistance. That’s not necessarily true. If I take care of your baby, your plant, or your dog, that’s also 世話. (The dog would fare much better under my supervision than the baby or plant, by the way.) So 世話 seems to be one crazy compound.
If you want to see this expression in a sample sentence, here’s a pretty good one:
余計なお世話だ！
Yokeina osewa da!
It’s none of your business!Funny that the honorific -o in the expression still makes a showing in this aggressive sentence!
