252 - Rolling Up Our Sleeves and... Acting with Reckless Abandon?

Word of the day:

捲る
まくる
to turn up; to roll up (e.g. sleeves)

For example, if someone is stirring a giant soup in the kitchen, and you think they're gonna get their sleeves covered in soup, then you could say:

そで捲ったほうがいいよ。
そで まくった ほう が いい よ。
You should roll up your sleeves.
Literally: "sleeves + should roll up + よ."

The English says "roll up," but the nuance of 捲る isn't really "roll (tightly)," as that would be 巻く (まく), but rather "turn up."

捲る/巻く
まくる/まく
to turn up/to wind; to roll; to coil

We see this 巻く in the word 巻き寿司 (まきずし // rolled sushi). We just call them rolls:

Let's not confuse that with "rolling up" our sleeves, which uses 捲る (まくる):

Or maybe I should say, "Let's pretend we're not confused." Because I think I am. Confused, that is.

And since we're already confused, here's an example that I would have translated wrong without Rei's help:

布団を捲ったら猫がいた。
ふとん を まくったら ねこ が いた。
When I pulled back the comforter, the cat was in it!
Literally: "futon + を + when turned up + cat + が + there was."
Note: This is grossly confusing, but this "futon" is actually referring to 掛け布団 (かけぶとん), a "comforter" or "bed cover." It's not referring to the 布団 (ふとん) that you sleep on top of, which is a Japanese-style mattress laid on the floor. I almost wrote "turned down" instead of "pulled back," but that sounded a little too formal to me.

So, not the bottom part of this image; rather; the fluffy comforter in the middle:

On a strange side note, the word 捲る (くる), which I often just see written in hiragana, means to "turn over," and it's used for "turning" the pages of a book:

ページをくる
ページ を めくる
to turn a page

Once again, that's くる, not くる.


Anyways, all that confusing stuff aside, today's lesson looks at what happens when we put ~まくる onto the end of the masu-stem of a verb:

VERB's masu-stem + ~まくる

VERB like crazy; VERB with reckless abandon

I have no idea why it means that, but it does. Examples below.

VERB:
働く(はたらく // to work
後悔する(こうかいする // to regret
飲む(のむ // to drink
見る(みる // to watch; to see
走る(はしる // to run
嘘をつく(うそをつく // to tell a lie
吐く(はく // to throw up; to spit

Masu-Stems:
働き~(はたらき
後悔し~(こうかいし
飲み~(のみ
見~(
走り~(はしり
嘘をつき~(うそをつき
吐き~(はき

VERB-ing Like Crazy:
働きまくるはたらきまくる // work like crazy
後悔しまくるこうかいしまくる // regret like crazy
飲みまくるのみまくる // drink like crazy
まくるみまくる // watch like crazy
走りまくるはしりまくる // run like crazy
嘘をつきまくるうそをつきまくる // lie like crazy
吐きまくるはきまくる // throw up like crazy

Got the structure down?

If so, let's look at some full sentences!


今年は働きまくりの1年だった。
ことし は はたらきまくり の いちねん だった。
I was working like crazy all year this year.
Literally: "this year + は + work like crazy + の + one year + was."


顔にタトゥー入れたこと、後悔しまくり
かお に タトゥー いれた こと、 こうかい しまくり。
I really, really regret getting a tattoo on my face.
Literally: "face + に + tattoo + inserted + thing, + regret + doing like crazy."

Speaking of tattoos, Japanese people are pretty closed-minded about them. Some of my friends that have tattoos have had to deal with some fairly annoying treatment. I can't speak from experience, though, as I don't have them myself. Mostly because (1) I'm afraid of my mom and (2) I change my mind way too often to even get close to picking a good one.


「ビール飲みまくりダイエット」とか無いかなー。
「ビール のみまくり ダイエット」 とか ない かなー。
I wonder if there's a "drink like crazy" diet or something (because that'd be great).
Literally: "beer + drink like crazy + diet + とか + is not + かなー."


週末は家でドラマ見まくるつもり。
しゅうまつ は いえ で ドラマ みまくる つもり。
This weekend I'm planning to binge-watch dramas at home.
Literally: "weekend + は + home + で + TV dramas + watch like crazy + intention."


毎日走りまくって10キロ痩せた!
まいにち はしりまくって じゅっ キロ やせた!
I ran like a mad person every day, and I lost ten kilos!
Literally: "every day + run like crazy (and) + ten kilos + thinned."


嘘をつきまくったせいで友達がいなくなった。
うそ を つきまくった せい で ともだち が いなく なった。
I kept lying so much that I lost all of my friends.
Literally: "told lies like crazy + fault + で + friends + が + are not + became."


A:
今何してる?
いま なに してる?
What are you up to?
Literally: "now + what + are doing?"

B:
二日酔いで吐きまくってる
ふつかよい で はきまくってる。
Puking my brains out because I'm so hungover.
Literally: "hangover + で + puking like crazy."


That's all for today. Hope you're studying like crazy!

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