Today (well, the day I'm writing this), I have an insurmountable amount of work for a writing job I got stuck with.

I told Rei I'd be working all day.

Then later, I somehow came up with a logical argument for us to go to sushi:

How did that happen?

So we're sitting there, and I notice that the wasabi packets say おろしわさび (oroshi wasabi):

Translated directly, I guess that would be "grated wasabi?"

It reminded me that we also say 大根おろし (daikon oroshi), which is "grated daikon:"

This is a daikon (radish) by the way:

Yum.

Sometimes Rei will have me grate daikon for her when she's cooking, saying something like:

大根おろしてくれる？
daikon oroshite kureru?
Will you grate this daikon for me?
(Literally: "daikon + grate + give me?")

And then I have to do this:

So, おろす (orosu) must mean "to grate," then, yeah?

But it also means like a million other things... which I'm trying to get straight in my head.

Like if you wanna take money out at the ATM, you would say:

銀行でお金おろしてくる
ginkou de okane oroshite kuru
I'm gonna go withdraw money at the bank.
(Literally: "bank + で + money + withdraw + come.")

Rei told me that she'd write おろしてくる (oroshite kuru) in hiragana, but my dictionary actually uses the kanji 下, meaning "below; lower" for this word: 下ろす (orosu).

I guess either way is fine?

Instead of a bank, you might also say this for a convenience store (for example, if you're out with your friends and realize you don't have any money):

コンビニでお金おろしてくる
konbini de okane oroshite kuru
I'm gonna go withdraw money at the convenience store.
(Literally: "convenience store + で + money + withdraw + come.")

Using the kanji 下 starts to make a lot more sense if we look at yet another meaning of this word: "to lower."

So let's say a guest in your house is wearing a backpack and standing in your living room, making you all uncomfortable, because they look uncomfortable.

You might tell them...

リュック下ろしていいですよ。
ryukku oroshite ii desu yo.
You can put your backpack down.
(Literally: "backpack + lower / put down + good + is + よ.")

(Note: リュック [ryukku] = リュックサック [ryukkusakku; "rucksack"]= backpack)

Even more common, let's say you're riding in a taxi, and you want to get out.

You might say...

ここで降ろしてください
koko de oroshite kudasai
Please let me out here.
(Literally: "here + で + let off + please.")

With the kanji 下, 下ろす (orosu) means "to lower," but in this case, where it means "to let off," we use 降ろす. This is the transitive version of おりる (oriru; written as both 降りる and 下りる), an intransitive verb meaning "to go down; to get off (a train); to get down; to descend."

This is the verb we use for "getting off" a train:

次の駅で降りるよ
tsugi no eki de oriru yo
I get off at the next station.
(Literally: "next + の + station + で + get off + よ.")

Yeah, I don't know why we write 降りる here, and not 下りる.

We would use the latter for a sentence like this:

階段を下りた
kaidan wo orita
(He) went down the stairs.
(Literally: "stairs + を + went down.")

Maybe we use 下 because this is literally talking about going down?

I don't know--I just picked up differences like this from exposure to the language.

Last but not least, there is a considerably darker use of the word おろす (orosu).

Used with the somewhat obscure kanji 堕, it can also mean "to have an abortion:"

実は赤ちゃん堕ろしたんだ。
jitsu wa akachan oroshita n da.
To tell you the truth, I had an abortion.
(Literally: "truth + は + baby + aborted + んだ.")

One strange thing about learning a language, I suppose, is finding out the way people say the things they don't want to say.

Sorry to end on a somewhat dark note. Probably should have structured this differently *_*

Bonus Phrases

おろしわさび取ってくれない？
おろしわさび　とって　くれない？
Will you hand me the grated wasabi?

大根おろしは体にいいんだよ。
だいこんおろし　は　からだ　に　いい　んだ　よ。
Grated daikon (radish) is good for you.