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Key Word #1 - 少年

The word 少年 means something like "young boy." Here's how Google images explains it:

So yeah, "(young) boy." But when it comes before another noun, it can take on a meaning like "young" or "juvenile:"

俺たち少年探偵団の出番だ！
おれたち　しょうねん　たんていだん　の　でばん　だ！
This is a case for our young detective group!
Literally: “we + boys / juvenile + detective-group + の + turn / time + だ！”
Note: I was tempted to translate this to something like, "It's time for our young detective team to jump into action!" But I thought I shouldn't take too many liberties in my translation. ^_^

The classic "young detective team/group" is from the anime Detective Conan / Case Closed:

I've never seen it, but it's uber-famous, and I've heard it's pretty good.

Here's the official website. And here's the English Wikipedia entry.

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Key Word #2 - 裁判長

The image says it all:

No? Anyways, 裁判長 (さいばんちょう) means "judge."

This was actually a new word for me. Well, kind of.

I already knew the word 裁判 (さいばん), which means "trial; court hearing."

Then ～長 (～ちょう) is the suffix for people that are the "chief" or "head" of something. And my brain somehow immediately understood that the "chief" of the "trial" is the "judge." I must be a genius.

裁判長が無期懲役を言い渡した。
さいばんちょう　が　むき　ちょうえき　を　いいわたした。
The judge sentenced him to life in prison.
Literally: “presiding judge + が + indefinite + imprisonment + を + sentenced.”

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Key Word #3 - 弁護人

弁護人 (べんごにん // [defense] counsel; [defendant's] attorney)

Another new word for me. But I already knew 弁護士 (べんごし // lawyer; attorney), so this was also easy to understand.

～士 (～し) and ～人 (～にん・～じん) are both suffixes for people.

～人 is a general marker for people, whereas ～士 tends to be a bit fancier and is less common.

殺人犯の弁護人がコメントを発表した。
さつじんはん　の　べんごにん　が　コメント　を　はっぴょう した。
The defending counsel for the murder case made a statement.
Literally: “murder (case) + の + defending counsel + が + comment + を + announcement + did.”

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Key Word #4 - 言うこと

言う (いう // to say)
＋
こと (thing)
＝
言うこと (thing someone says)

I think an example can explain this one well:

彼女の言うことが信用できない。
かのじょ　の　いう　こと　が　しんよう　できない。
I can’t trust what she says.
Literally: “she + の + say + thing + が + trust / confidence + cannot do.”

We love to make noun phrases using question words (e.g. "what she says;" "how he feels;" etc.).

In Japanese, we can often just combine nouns and verbs. Here are 672 examples:

No, I'm just kidding. You only get one example today. Also, we've seen "verb + こと" about a hundred times in past lessons. It just has so many uses! It's a bit of a crime to always be putting "thing" in the literal translations, but I still find that doing so helps me understand things.

You can see a couple more uses of ～こと in this lesson: [NDL #210] - 『秋』の英語, Part 2

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Key Word #5 - 分からなかった

Dictionary Form:
分かる (わかる // to understand)

(Casual) Negative Form:
分からない (わからない // don't understand)

Past Tense (Casual) Negative Form:
分からなかった (わからなかった // didn't understand)

And let's not forget that らな can become んな in casual language:

分かんない (わかんない // don't understand)
分かんなかった (わかんなかった // didn't understand)

Anyways, an example:

1問も分からなかった。
いちもん　も　わからなかった。
I didn’t understand a single question.
Literally: “one question + も + did not understand.”

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Key Word #6 - 痴漢

I think we talked enough about 痴漢 (ちかん) in the last lesson, right?

It's worth noting, however, that 痴漢 can refer to the person who is a "groper," or it can refer to the act of "groping" itself:

痴漢はレイプと呼ばれるべきだ。
ちかん　は　レイプ　と　よばれる　べき　だ。
“Groping” should be called rape.
Literally: “chikan + は + rape + と + be called + should (=べき) + だ.”

You can also say something like:

痴漢された。
ちかん　された。
I was chikan'd. // I was sexually assaulted. // I was groped.
Literally: "chikan + was done."

Make this one more reason why I don't like dictionaries defining 痴漢 as "groper."

Also, "groper" reminds me of "grouper," the fish:

On second thought, maybe it is appropriate for 痴漢.

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Key Word #7 - ひどい

You must learn this word. Must!

Then anytime someone does something terrible, you can say ひどい！

All by itself, it means something like, "How could you?!" or "You're so cruel!"

Situation:
- Someone steals your potato chips.
- Someone makes fun of your leather pants.
- Someone tells you that doing push-ups whenever you're waiting for a video game to load is not "just as good as a gym membership."

Appropriate Response:
ひどい！
How could you!
Note: You can use kanji if you want, too: 酷い.

You can also use it just to say things like "horrible; awful; terrible:"

頭痛がひどいので今日は休みます。
ずつう　が　ひどい　ので　きょう　は　やすみます。
I can’t come in today because I have a terrible headache.
Literally: “headache + が + horrible / awful + ので + today + は + take a day off / rest.”

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Key Word #8 - とりあえず

When I hear とりあえず, I think of とりあえずビール, which is what you say when you sit down at an izakaya--"I don't know what I want to eat yet, but I do know that I want a beer to start."

Apparently Japanese people share this association with me:

That's why this phrase was featured in: [NDL #56] - Cool Phrases for Izakaya & Restaurants.

But some people might not want beer, which is fine...

とりあえず飲み物だけ頼もう。
とりあえず　のみもの　だけ　たのもう。
Let’s just order drinks for now.
Literally: “for the time being + drink + only + let’s request.”

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Key Word #9 - ～してみる

する＝do
みる＝see
して＝te-form of する

So...

～してみる = ~try out (=do and see!)

Makes sense.

気まぐれでショートカットにしてみた。
きまぐれ　で　ショートカット　に　してみた。
I decided to cut my hair short on a whim.
Literally: “a whim + で + short cut + に + tried out (=do and saw).”

Talking about "trying things" in Japanese can get a bit confusing, which is why I talked about it in this lesson, which I also linked to yesterday: [NDL #57] - Try Doing VS Try to Do. Did you read it yesterday? If not, I'm gonna tell your mom.

Not really. You can do whatever you want.

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Did it work?!

Assuming you read all of that stuff, let's see how much of this image you understand now:

少年裁判長
しょうねん　さいばんちょう
Juvenile Presiding Judge

弁護人や検事の言うことが分からなかった。
べんごにん　や　けんじ　の　いう　こと　が　わからなかった。
I didn't understand what the lawyers were talking about.
Literally: "defending counsel+ や + public prosecutor + の + say + thing + が + did not understand."
Note: I just put "lawyers," because it seemed like overkill to say "defending counsel" and "public prosecutor."

痴漢はひどいので、とりあえず死刑にしてみた。
ちかん　は　ひどい　ので、 とりあえず　しけい　に　してみた。
Since chikan are horrible, for the time being I decided to give him the death penalty.
Literally: "chikan + は + horrible / awful + because [＝ので], + for the time being + death penalty + に + tried out doing."

Still feel impossible? That's OK. It will seem entirely doable someday... as long as we keep at it.