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Genkikiwi · Joined: 06 Jun 2003 Posts: 41 Location: Sapporo

hi folks
yesterday a Japanese chap in my gym asked me to help him with the meaning of an expression..

it was " There is no Santa Claus "

i was a bit stumped . I have never heard this expression before. I asked him what was the context ? His English isnt so great and he replied just in a story. He had an idea what it meant in Japanese but i didnt know this Japanese.

so wondering if anyone uses such a phrase or knows what it means

It certainly doesn`t sound too positive

thanks in advance
cheers GK

kdynamic · Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 562 Location: Japan

I think it means bursting the bubble of illusion someone had been living in and bringing them back to reality, and disappointing them in the process.

妄想的信念/夢を壊してしまう

現実の世界に引き戻す

Hmmm other people might have their own interpretation of what it means...

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Genkikiwi · Joined: 06 Jun 2003 Posts: 41 Location: Sapporo

hi , thanks for the replies and the Japanese too

cheers

Like a Rolling Stone · Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Posts: 872

No Santa

SHOCKUU!

I say Father Christmas Cool

abufletcher · Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 11:54 am Post subject:

A similar type of expression is "There are no free lunches (in this world)." meaning nothing good comes without a price.

abufletcher · Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:02 pm Post subject:

Actually, there are probably a fair number of such statements that are not quite archaic sounding enough (yet) to fall comfortably in the category "proverb" and they are not quite what most linguists would call an idiom either.

"You get what you pay for."

"What you see is what you get."

"I won't touch that with a ten foot pole."

Genkikiwi · Joined: 06 Jun 2003 Posts: 41 Location: Sapporo

hi Abu

yeah i was aufait with the free lunch one so i was able to explain that one to him.

this thread has reminded me of a very corny Esl related phrase I once saw.

My Uncle who is a Santa Claus - a great example of a relative clause

well it was something along those lines

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

Ya sure about that? Maybe he was asking you because the whole topic of "Is there a Santa Claus" is a unit in the Sunshine series English textbook which is used in many Jr. High classes across Japan... I believe it's in Sunshine 1 but I could be wrong.

Maybe he never quite "got it" when he was studying it in Jr. High, or maybe he has a son or daughter who was studying that unit in Sunshine and wanted to know what it meant....