-aguneru

English translation: Think /work/etc hard but in vain

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Japanese term or phrase:	-aguneru
English translation:	Think /work/etc hard but in vain

20:32 May 2, 2005

Japanese to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Linguistics / Bible

Japanese term or phrase: -aguneru

What does -aguneru mean? All the examples are taken from the Japanese Bible (I'll try to keep them as short as possible, but I'd rather err on the safe side):
http://www.ibs.org/bibles/japanese/

創世記
三七
１１兄たちはくやしくてたまりません。　しかし、父親はいったいどういう意味なのかと、あれこれ考えあぐねるのでした。

王国成立記　上（サムエル記

Kamil Ibragimov

Think hard but in vain

Explanation:
Think hard but in vain (to find an answer)

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Note added at 2005-05-04 22:04:59 (GMT) Post-grading
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(Reply to your question)
To (verb or verb-phrase) hard but in vain
Example: kogiageru - To strain at the oar but in vain.
Mark 6-48 (in my English version) is written as follows:
And seeing them distressed in rowing（風逆らうに因りて,弟子たちの漕ぎ煩うを見て）
Luke20-13 (in my English version) is written as follows:And the lord of the vineyard said, What shall I do （葡萄園の主いう「われ何を為さんか」）

Selected response from:

Nobuo Kawamura
Japan
Local time: 04:20

Grading comment

I believe I'll go along with your version. However, since there's a kogiaguneru example, I believe some generalizing amendment is in order. What will you say to the wording "make a great effort but in vain/to no avail"?
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +2

to be at a loss

Iyasu Nagata

at his wits' end

humbird

Think hard but in vain

Nobuo Kawamura

Answers

3 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

to be at a loss

Explanation:
"omoiaguneru" and "kangaeaguneru" mean
to think hard about what to do, but to still be at a loss -
to not know what to do

Iyasu Nagata
United States
Local time: 15:20
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Japanese

55 mins confidence:

at his wits' end

Explanation:
The father debated and gloped all possiblilities -- think and think it over without any conclusion.

humbird
Native speaker of:

Japanese,

English

8 hrs confidence:

Think hard but in vain

Nobuo Kawamura
Japan
Local time: 04:20
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Japanese

Grading comment

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-aguneru

English translation: Think /work/etc hard but in vain

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English translation: Think /work/etc hard but in vain

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