「さすが！」( = Sasuga!)

憂鬱

「”ゆううつ”という漢字はこの様に書きます！」

=”Yuutsu” to iu kanji wa kono you ni kakimasu!”

= This is how we write the kanji “Yuutsu” (melancholy).

「さすが、マギー先生！」

= Sasuga, Maggie-sensei!

= “You are GREAT (as we all know), Miss Maggie!”

「先生、”ばら”はどう書くんですか？」

 = Sensei, “bara” wa dou kakun desu ka?”

= “Miss, how do you write “bara” ( = rose) (in kanji)?”

See, Maggie-sensei can write any 漢字 ( = kanjis) without any problems!

Today’s word is 「さすが」 ( = “Sasuga”) The Kanji for “sasuga” is 「流石」

流：nagareru/ryuu : to flow, stream

石：ishi/seki : stone, rock

“Sasuga” is 当て字  ( = Ateji) phonetic equivalent

It means “wonderful” or “impressive” or “admirable” as people expected.

When you see someone who almost always does a good job, accomplish something you can say,

「さすが！」( = Sasuga!) or「さすがですね！」( = Sasuga desune!)   ”You are great!” as a compliment. The implication is that you are not surprised they did a good job, because they often do a good job. You are impressed, but you also expected them to do well. In your mind, they have a good track record.

When you put it in front of adjective, it makes it more powerful.

For example

「すごいですね」

= Sugoi desune.

= “You are great! “

「さすがにすごいですね。」

= Sasuga ni sugoi desune.

(The reputation was true, I knew you were great but still ) ”You are great!”

It is one of the many difficult words to translate from Japanese to English. Let’s look at some more examples.

🔸 When you are impressed or want to flatter someone, you say 「さすが」 ( = Sasuga)

Ex. 1 )

As you see Maggie wrote difficult kanji on the board.

•「さすが、マギー先生！」

= Sasuga Maggie-sensei!

=“Miss Maggie is great (as we know).”

It implies you knew Maggie is a great teacher but still you are impressed with her ability to write difficult kanji.

When we see Ohtani hit a winning home run,

•「さすが、大谷だね！」

= Sasuga Ohtani dane.

 = “Ohtani is a great player!”　

（He made it as we had expected!)

It implies we all know that Ichiro is a great player and reliable. (true to be one’s reputation.)

•「さすが、世界一のピアニストと言われるだけあって彼の演奏は素晴らしい。」

= Sasuga, Sekai ichi no pianisuto to iwareru dake atte kare no ensou wa subarashii.

= “As the world’s best pianist, his performance is just wonderful!”

（→His reputation as the world’s best piano player is deserved.)

♦さすが〜だけ（のことは）ある(=sasuga ~ dake (no koto wa) aru.) : As might be expected, Only ~ could have done this great job.

Ex. さすが、プロだけあって彼女は強い。

= Sasuga puro dake atte kanojyo wa tsuyoi.

= (Since she is a pro) we had expected, she would be strong!

When a mother made a wonderful meal for her family,

•「さすが、お母さん、料理上手いね！」

= Sasuga okaasan ryouri umai ne!

= “I knew you are a great cook!”

「おだてても無駄ですよ。」

= Odatete mo muda desuyo.

= “Flattery will get you nowhere! “

•おだてる ( = odateru)　to praise, to brown nose

•無駄  ( = muda) waste

•「さすがに、リッツホテルはすごいなあ…」

= Sasugani Rittsu hoteru wa sugoinaa…

= “As we had expected from its reputation, The Ritz Hotel is great!”

Ex. ３ ) If you use it in a negative sentence, it means “even”.

•「さすがのマギー先生でも間違えるんだね。」

= Sasuga no Maggie-sensei demo machigaerun dane.

= “Even (a great teacher) Miss Maggie made a mistake, huh?”

• 失礼なお客の態度にさすがにいつも丁寧な店長も声を荒立てた。

= Shitsurei na okyaku no taido ni sasugani itsumo teinei na tenchou mo koe wo aradateta.

Even the store manager — who is usually polite — raised his voice to a customer who had become rude.

• さすがの彼でも奥さんは恐い。

= Sasuga no kare demo okusan wa kowai.

= Even he is scared of his wife.

Ex. ４) Just to emphasize,

After all the hard work,

•「さすがに今日は疲れたね。」

= Sasuga ni kyou wa tsukareta ne.

 = “(As we had expected) we got so tired today.”

(Usually, we don’t get tired much but since we worked more than usual, we got so tired.)

 

📝 Cultural Note: How do you respond when someone praises you saying 「さすが（ですね）」“Sasuga (desune)”

「さすが、加藤さん！上手だね。」

=Sasuga Katou san, Jouzu dane.

“Kato san does it great as always.“

加藤さん（ = Katou-san)　would say,

• 「そんなことないです。」

= Sonna koto nai desu.

= ”That is not true.”

• 「いえ、全然、上手くないです。」

= Ie, zenzen umaku nai desu.

= “No, I am not good at all.”

• 「いいえ、私なんて… 」

= Iie, watashi nante.

= “No way, someone like me (is not good).”

• 「まだまだです。」

= Madamada desu.

= “I am not good enough.”

in a very humble way.

But between friends, we might jokingly say,

• 「当たり前でしょ。」

= Atarimae desho.

= ”Of course.”

• 「まかせて！」

= Makasete.

= ”Leave it to me!”

OK, now let’s take a look at the picture above!

「〜はどの様に書きますか？ 」

= ~ wa dono you ni kakimasu ka? 

= How do you write ~?

「〜はこの様に書きます。」

= ~ wa kono you ni kakimasu.

= We write ~ this way.

Note : 憂鬱 ( = ゆううつ = yuu utsu) (melancholy, gloom, depressed feeling) is one of the difficult 漢字  ( =  kanji) that I bet many Japanese people can’t write.

ばら（バラ）rose is considered to be one of the most difficult 漢字 ( =  kanji).

Do you want to try to write it?

Here you go!

→ 薔薇

 

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

「私ってさすがでしょ！」

= Watashitte sasuga desho!

=  “I’m great, right?”

はい、さすがだと思います。

= Hai sasuga dato omoimasu. 

=  Yes, I think you’re great!

 

 

 

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