Idiomatic Japanese Question

tinwhiskers

Without getting into all the details, I'm getting my newborn niece-well actually more my BiL- an Anime "Dream Catcher". I know this is not an actual thing, it is something of a spoof gift.

So I am wondering if there is a japanese idiomatic equivalent to "sweet dreams"-dream(s)(ing) being the keyword. Assuming there isn't, I'd appreciate if anyone who could give me a translation in the jist of "Dream Guarding Ronan" or "Dream Guard Ronan".

E.Coyote

Maybe something relating to baku?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku_(spirit)

simonwolf

For something like "sweet dreams" as a phrase, I would probably just say 「いい夢たくさん見てね」(ii yume takusan mitene).

There is a compound word specifically for "sweet dreams", kanmu, but I've never encountered it outside of a dictionary,

DaMoonRulz

@Inquisitor

baudattitude

The only things that come to mind are Baku, who was mentioned earlier, and the superstitions around the first dream of the new year. You can search "hatsuyume" if you want to go down that road looking for material.

Otherwise where an American might say "sweet dreams", a Japanese person is more likely just to say おやすみなさい, oyasumi nasai, "sleep well"

Gabriel_Pitt

tinwhiskers wrote: »

Without getting into all the details, I'm getting my newborn niece-well actually more my BiL- an Anime "Dream Catcher". I know this is not an actual thing, it is something of a spoof gift.

So I am wondering if there is a japanese idiomatic equivalent to "sweet dreams"-dream(s)(ing) being the keyword. Assuming there isn't, I'd appreciate if anyone who could give me a translation in the jist of "Dream Guarding Ronan" or "Dream Guard Ronan".

I don't get the association of Ronan? Anime themed Guardians of the Galaxy merch a big thing?

garroad_ran

tinwhiskers wrote: »

japanese idiomatic equivalent to "sweet dreams"-dream(s)(ing) being the keyword.

Others have already said it, but no, there is no real idiomatic equivalent with dreams being the keyword. simonwolf's phrase is good, but a more natural way of expressing the same thing would simply be 「いい夢を」(ii yume o), and it's functionally a more accurate translation of the original English phrase too. The difficulty here is that if you actually want to explain to someone what this means, saying "it means 'sweet dreams'" is a bit of an oversimplification, but if you're not worried about that, then I think ii yume o is the way to go.

tinwhiskers wrote: »

"Dream Guarding Ronan"

「夢を守るろうなん」(yume o mamoru ronan) comes to mind. It's a very literal translation but it works.

tinwhiskers wrote: »

"Dream Guard Ronan".

I don't know what would be the most effective way of translating "guard" in this context, and I don't really want to hazard a guess.

WiseManTobes

If it helps, the actual Ojibwe translation is "Dream Snare"

PLA

I think the only "kanmu" I've heard about was some old dead guy.

baudattitude

Gabriel_Pitt wrote: »

tinwhiskers wrote: »

Without getting into all the details, I'm getting my newborn niece-well actually more my BiL- an Anime "Dream Catcher". I know this is not an actual thing, it is something of a spoof gift.

So I am wondering if there is a japanese idiomatic equivalent to "sweet dreams"-dream(s)(ing) being the keyword. Assuming there isn't, I'd appreciate if anyone who could give me a translation in the jist of "Dream Guarding Ronan" or "Dream Guard Ronan".

I don't get the association of Ronan? Anime themed Guardians of the Galaxy merch a big thing?

Maybe OP means Rōnin?

And huh my phone can do the little line above vowels, today is a voyage of discovery.