The Trouble with Translation, part 2

Last time I wrote about how "cheap" isn't really a good translation of 「安い」. Actually, there are many words that are like those two, but are still taught to English students all across Japan. "A (English) = B (Japanese)" is almost never a good way to approach language learning, but some examples of that type of mistake are more common than others.

Two of the mistaken translations I see most often are "fine = 晴れた" and "fine = 元気". "fine" usually means "good", but can also mean "not great but good enough". It also has a strong connotation of "I don't want to talk about it". If you say "It's a fine day", usually that means there aren't too many clouds, because not many people think a cloudy day is good. However, "fine" is not a description of the weather itself. You wouldn't say, "today it's rainy, but tomorrow it will be fine", for example. Instead, you would say, "today it's rainy, but tomorrow it will be sunny" or "tomorrow it will be clear".

Likewise, when someone asks you "how are you?" and you answer, "I'm fine", you are saying, "good enough". There is a strong implication that you don't want to say any more about it, especially if you say "fine" with a falling intonation. "Fine" is not an especially friendly word. Instead, if you're feeling good, just say "I'm good" or "I'm great". It's OK to be honest!