間違いから学ぶ！
① PROBLEM
My room is dirty.
This is a classic mistake to make, but it’s just a matter of word choice.
I always feel that a lot of my students don’t fully understand the deeper connotations of the word ‘dirty.’
A connotation is like an additional idea.
A feeling
A notion
An underlying meaning
Let’s look in more detail about the reasons why you should think twice before using the word ‘dirty.’
Especially when talking about your home.
② REASON
In order to fully understand the word ‘dirty,’ first we have to look at where the word comes from. It comes from dirt.
Dirt = 土
The general meaning of dirt is soil or earth. You know, the stuff we are all standing on right now.
So we usually use dirty for things like:
A dirty car
Dirty boots
Dirty hands
A dirty t-shirt
A dirty dog
Basically it means 汚れている.
So if you say "My house is dirty," it sounds terrible.
Like you are living like a pig. It sounds unhygienic, disgusting and perhaps dangerous. We imagine bacteria, mold and even insects and mice crawling around your house.
That’s not creating a very good impression, is it?
'Dirty' also has 2 other meanings that I really must talk about.
The first one is this.
Dirty can mean sexual or pornographic
みだらな、下品な、わいせつな
A dirty movie
A dirty magazine
A dirty joke
A dirty old man
It’s also in the title of a famous movie from back in 1987.
Dirty Dancing
The 2nd meaning is someone who doesn’t do things fairly in sports, business or politics
ルールを守らない、ずるい手を使う
A dirty fight
A dirty game
A dirty deal
A dirty move
A dirty divorce
You may also have heard of the classic Clint Eastwood movies from the 70’s 'Dirty Harry.'
"Go ahead! Make my day!
Also did you know that dirty can be used as a verb?
汚す、汚くする
Don’t dirty your nice white t-shirt.
He dirtied my carpet with his muddy shoes.
He dirtied the reputation of our company.
Dirty is also used to give more emphasis to a negative adjective.
She’s a dirty little cheat!
A dirty great tower was built next to my house!
One more point about the pronunciation of the word dirty. In different English accents it can be difficult to pick up. It's best to watch the video for this part. Watch Video Now
③ SOLUTION
So what’s the solution to this problem?
Let’s go back to the original sentence.
My room is dirty.
Probably what you want to say is this
部屋が散らかっている！
部屋が汚い！
In English you can say
My room is messy.
My room is in a complete mess.
My room is so untidy.
My room is like a pigsty.
My room looks like a bomb site.
Another super common mistake is this
His writing is dirty.
字が汚い
So it should be
His writing is messy.
His writing is illegible.
Illegible means it’s so messy that you can’t even read it.
④ EXAMPLES
Let's take a look at 5 example sentences.
(1) Your desk is so messy. It’s getting beyond a joke!
To go/get beyond a joke means it’s not even funny anymore. It’s serious and maybe even worrying.
(2) My new jeans got all dirty when we walked through the park in the rain.
I guess they should have thought twice before wearing them.
(3) His handwriting was so messy, nobody could make out what he’d written.
So if you can’t make something out, it means you can’t see or read it clearly. If you look carefully you can just about make out Mount Fuji on the horizon.
(4) When my uncle passed away they found a whole box of dirty magazines under his bed.
The 2nd meaning is someone who doesn’t do things fairly in sports, business or politics. die.
(5) They say if you have a messy house then you have a messy life.
I don’t know if I agree with that one!
Conclusion
The word 'dirty' has a slightly different meaning in Japanese and English, but if you follow these tips - you should be fine. I hope your room is just good old-fashioned messy and not 'dirty.' Please watch the VIDEO LESSON on YouTube!
Thanks for reading!
connotation | 含意 |
unhygienic | 非衛生的な |
bacteria | 細菌 |
mold | かび・菌 |
a dirty old man | すけべおやじ・変態おやじ |
a dirty divorce | 離婚の泥仕合 |
reputation | 評判・風評 |
a pigsty | 豚舎・豚小屋 |
legible | 文字などが判読可能な・読みやすい |
illegible | 文字などが読みにくい・判読できない |
get/go beyond a joke | シャレにならない |
make out | 判読する・見分ける・聞き分ける |
pass away | この世を去る |