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Yesterday, as I was spacing out to avoid the discomfort of a difficult yoga position, our teacher asked us this: "Where are you now? If you're thinking about the past or dreaming about the...

What do you think the following phrase might mean?

しっかりと足元を見つめる

しっかり (firmly); 足元 (あしもと: underfoot); 
見つめる (みつめる: to...

What do you think you get from wet bones? That is, 滑 breaks down as 氵(water) + 骨 (bone). What about dem bones? Here are your choices:

a. mortar
b. plaster
...

I'm always trying to show you just what I love about kanji, but this week that happened in reverse. (How appropriate; I've just written an essay on 遡, which is about going in reverse!)...

You probably know the common words 時計 (とけい: watch) and 計画 (けいかく: plan). Both include 計, which can mean "plan" and "to compute," also serving as a suffix meanin...

Let's start with a quiz. What do you think the following terms could mean? Match each numbered term to one lettered option.

1. 光陰 (こういん)    ...

Ever since I found out about Robin Williams's suicide, I've had a heavy heart. I keep thinking about him and his incredibly complex mind. That doesn't help much. I keep reading about hi...

If I lived in ancient times and if someone asked me to create a pictograph, I probably would have been lazy and chosen to make one for "circle" or "round." And I would have desi...

I love it when a term has a literal primary meaning and then a second definition that provides an unexpected figurative twist. These pairs of meanings come across like a 1-2 punch. Then again, mayb...

As kanji learners, we go to a great deal of trouble to recognize each character in a sentence, grasp which ones go together as words, figure out all the readings, and settle on the appropriate defi...