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-   -   What is the Japanese equivalent of "to pull a NAME_OF_PERSON"? (https://www.japanforum.com/forum/japanese-language-help/35205-what-japanese-equivalent-%22-pull-name_of_person%22.html)

KyleGoetz 12-15-2010 05:50 PM

What is the Japanese equivalent of "to pull a NAME_OF_PERSON"?
 
Is there a Japanese equivalent for the English to pull a NAME_OF_PERSON?

A bit of background for non-native English speakers: There is a phrase in (American?) English, "to pull a [NAME OF PERSON]." It means "to do something that is characteristic of PERSON." Typically it's said jokingly about a mistake someone has made that is frequently made by a certain named person.

For example, suppose my friend John is always tripping over his shoelaces. If Nancy trips over her shoelaces while she, Ralph, and I are hanging out, I might laugh and say "she pulled a John."

I have always used, for example, ジョンをする with my bilingual friends because we organically adopted this translation convention and it makes sense to us as bilingual Japanese/English speakers.

I suppose ジョンのようだ or ジョンに似てるじゃん might be decent translations (at least, they get the meaning across), but I'm wondering if there's a Japanese equivalent for this phrase other than such approximations.

masaegu 12-16-2010 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz (Post 841889)
Is there a Japanese equivalent for the English to pull a NAME_OF_PERSON?

A bit of background for non-native English speakers: There is a phrase in (American?) English, "to pull a [NAME OF PERSON]." It means "to do something that is characteristic of PERSON." Typically it's said jokingly about a mistake someone has made that is frequently made by a certain named person.

For example, suppose my friend John is always tripping over his shoelaces. If Nancy trips over her shoelaces while she, Ralph, and I are hanging out, I might laugh and say "she pulled a John."

I have always used, for example, ジョンをする with my bilingual friends because we organically adopted this translation convention and it makes sense to us as bilingual Japanese/English speakers.

I suppose ジョンのようだ or ジョンに似てるじゃん might be decent translations (at least, they get the meaning across), but I'm wondering if there's a Japanese equivalent for this phrase other than such approximations.

The closest I can think of would be the slangy word かぶる.

ジョンとかぶってる。
ジョンとかぶってんじゃん!

Neither ジョンのようだ and ジョンに似てるじゃん sounds alive.
ジョンみたいじゃん would work though it sounds too normal and boring.

KyleGoetz 12-16-2010 01:53 AM

Thank you.


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