味 (aji(na): smart, clever, witty)
彼女は味なことを言いました。
Kanojo wa ajina koto o iimashita.
She made a witty remark.彼女 (kanojo: she) he + woman
言 (i(u): to say)さっと身を引くとは味なことをやるじゃないか。
Satto mi o hiku to wa ajina koto o yaru ja nai ka.
What style to resign his post just like that!さっと (satto: quickly)
身を引 (mi o hi(ku): to back out of, to retire)
one’s position + to retireNormally, one associates 引 (IN, hi(ku)) with “to pull, to draw toward one,” but it can also mean “to retire,” as in 役所を引 (yakusho o hi(ku): to leave office, to resign one’s post, service + office + to retire). In such cases, I suppose “pull toward one” has become “pull away.” And, oh! I just realized that the root of the English word “retire” is the French tirer, “to draw, pull,” while the prefix re- contributes the sense of “back.” So in some Western languages, too, there’s a connection between “retiring” and “pulling back”!
仇を恩で返すとは彼もなかなか味な真似をする。
Ata o on de kaesu to wa kare mo nakanaka ajina mane o suru.
What a graceful gesture─to repay his enemy with kindness!仇 (ata: enemy)
恩 (on: favor, debt of gratitude)
返 (kae(su): to pay back)
彼 (kare: he)
真似 (mane: behavior) true + to resembleWe’ve seen 真似 before but with a different meaning.
