「どうしてクリスマスに働かなきゃいけないの？」

(=Doushite kurisumasu ni hatarakanakya ikenaino?)

”How come I have to work at Christmas?”

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Today’s verb is ぼやく (=boyaku) to complain like a grouch or in a grouchy way.

These are the synonyms:

•不満を言う(=fuman wo iu.) to complain or to bitch

Ex. 妻は朝から不満ばかり言っている。（=Tsuma wa asa kara fuman bakari itte iru.)

My wife has been complaining since the morning.

•不平を言う(=fuhei wo iu) to complain

•不平不満を言う (=fuhei fuman wo iu) to moan and groan

•文句を言う(=monku wo iu) check 苦情 (kujou) Lesson

•愚痴を言う(=guchi wo iu) to whine

Ex. 母は嫁が手伝わないと愚痴ばかり言っている。（=Haha wa yome ga tetsuzawanai to guchi bakari itte iru.)

My mom is always complaining about her daughter in law for not helping her.

•泣き言を言う(=nakigoto wo iu.) to whine

Ex.もう泣き言は言わずに前に進もう。（=Mou nakigoto wa iwazu ni mae ni susumou.)

I will stop whining and move on! (Imagine you are talking to yourself.)

•ぐずぐず言う(=guzuguzu iu)　to grumble

Ex.ぐずぐず言ってないで何かやり始めたら？（=Guzuguzu itte nai de yarihajimetara?)

“Why don’t you quit complaining and start to do something! “

Also we often use ぶつぶつ or ブツブツ(=butsubutsu)、ぐだぐだ (=gudaguda), etc. to describe complaints.

Ex. ぐだぐだ文句を言う。(=Gudaguda monku wo iu.)

Ex.ぶつぶつ不平を言う。(=Butsubutsu fuhei wo iu.)

ぼやく(=boyaku) means to grumble, to grouch, to bitch or complain. ぼやく(=boyaku) could be “bitching about something even if nobody is listening to you.

一人でぼやく (=Hitori de boyaku) to grumble about to oneself

Cf. 一人でつぶやく(=Hitori de tsubuyaku) to mutter to oneself

•「彼はいつもぼやいてばかりいる。」 (=Kare wa itsumo boyaite bakari iru.) He is always whining about something.

•「ぼやいていてばかりいても仕方がないから仕事します。」

(=Boyaite bakari ite mo shikata ga nai kara shigoto wo shimasu.)

“Just complaining won’t get me anywhere so I’ll just work!)

It is a negative behavior, but we do it once in a while to vent the frustration.

So we say :

•「ちょっとぼやいていい？」(=Chotto boyaite ii?) “Can I vent a bit?”

•「 ちょっとぼやかせて。」(=Chotto boyakasete!) “Let me whine a bit.”

•「誰にでもぼやきたい時はあるよね。」(=Dare ni demo boyakitai toki wa aru yone.)

“Everybody wants to grouch once in a while.”

•「ぼやいていいよ！」(=Boyaite iiyo) “You can complain (in front of me)!”

The noun form is ぼやき(=boyaki) complaints

Ex.父は最近ぼやきが多い。(=Chichi wa saikin boyaki ga ooi.)

My father complains a lot lately.

Every year, we announce 新語、流行語大賞(=shingo, ryuukougo taishou), award for the new and popular key word of the year.

流行 (=ryuukou) trend, fad, fashion → 流行る(=hayaru)

Ex. 日本でも袖付き毛布が流行する(流行る）かもしれない。

(=Nihon demo sodetsuki moufu ga ryuukou suru (or hayaru) kamo shirenai.)

The blanket with sleeves might be a big hit in Japan.

大賞(=taishou) grand prize

They are not necessarily new or coined words. Many of them simply reflect what is happening in society.

This year they awarded this word!

政権交替 (=Seiken koutai), change of political administrations. A slogan of 民主党 (=minshutou) The Democratic Party of Japan and it actually happened this year.

And ぼやき is one of the TOP 10 “New and popular key words” for this year.

Why? 野村克也監督 (Nomura Katsunori Kantoku) , a baseball coach/director of 楽天ゴールデンイーグルス（=Rakuten Golden Eagles) who led the team to their best-ever record of second place in 2009, was always grumbling his team’s record. The media has made fun of his ぼやき(=boyaki) , grumbling.

He also said,

「ぼやきたくないけれど、ぼやきたくなる。」(=Boyaki taku nai keredo, boyaki takunaru.)

“I don’t want to grumble but I can’t help grumbling!”

OK, let me introduce the rest of the top 10 words! How many words do you know?

*草食男子 (=soushokudanshi)　Please check 草食系男子 lesson！

*事業仕分け(=jigyoushiwake)　(Political) budget screening to eliminate wasteful spending

事業(=jigyou) business, projects　仕分け(=shiwake) sort

*新型インフルエンザ(=shingata infuruenza)　New influenza (Check the related 風邪 lesson)

* 脱官僚 (=datsu kanryou) (Political) debureaucratizing, to wrest control of politics from bureaucrats

脱(=datsu) to leave, to get rid of　　　官僚(=kanryou) government bureaucrat

*派遣切り(=haken giri) firing of the temp (due to the bad economy)

*ファストファッション (=fasuto fasshion) “fast fashion”

It has derived from a word “fast food”. It means trendy but cheap clothing as typified by H&M, Forever 21, Zara, GAP, Uniqlo and etc.

*歴女 (=rekijo) (young) women who are interested in history, especially in 戦国時代 (=sengoku jidai) period of Civil war and some of them are fanatic about 戦国武将（=sengoku bushou) the warlords and participate in certain events in costume.

It’s an abbreviation of 「歴史好きな女性」(=Rekishi zuki na josei) Women who like history.

From the picture above.

「どうしてクリスマスに働かなきゃいけないの？」

(=Doushite kurisumasu ni hatarakanakya ikenaino?)

”How come I have to work on Christmas?”

•どうして(=doushite) Why

•クリスマスなのに(=kurisumasu nanoni) even at Christmas

なのに (=nanoni) is an emphasizing form of クリスマスに(=kurisumasu ni)

•働かなきゃいけないの？(=Hatarakanakya ikenai no?) Do I have to work?

なきゃ (=nakya) is a casual form of なくては(=nakute wa)

働かなくてはいけないのですか？(=Hatarakanakute wa ikenai no desuka?) is more formal

Ex. もう行かなきゃ！(=Mou ikanakya) ←もう行かなくては（いけません。）(=Mou ikanakutewa (ikemasen.)) I have to go now.

マギー先生より (Maggie sensei yori) From Maggie-sensei

皆さんはクリスマスはお仕事しますか？平日だから日本では仕事する人が多いです。

(=Minasan wa kurisumasu wa oshigoto shimasu ka? Heijitsu dakara Nihon dewa shigoto suru hito ga ooi desu.)　Do you work on Christmas? It is a weekday so many people work on that day. 　私も早くお休み欲しいよお！！(=Watashi mo hayaku oyasumi hoshi yoo!)

I want my (Christmas) holidays soon!! あら、またぼやいちゃった？(=Ara mata boyaichatta?)

Oh, was I grumbling again?