Lunch duty today of all days with 〜に限って
Grammar Explanation: Of all times to happen with 〜に限って
Komura and Mie have serving duty in the cafeteria. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, except today Mie accidentally stepped on her glasses and broke them, and can barely see without them.
- 木村:
- 「そしてそんな日に限って給食当番」
- “Thus, on a day such as that (of all days), she has lunch duty.”
- Literal: “And on such a day of all days, lunch duty.”
- 「だから今日も俺が三重さんをサポートしようと思っただけど…」
- “Therefore, I thought I'd support Mie today as well, but...”
- Literal: “So today too I thought I would support Mie-san, but...”
- “Thus, on a day such as that (of all days), she has lunch duty.”
- 男の子:
- 「まま待って待って待って」
- “W-w-wait, wait, wait!”
- Literal: “W-w-wait, wait, wait!”
- “W-w-wait, wait, wait!”
Key Points
- 〜に限って marks a time or situation as especially inconvenient or ironic.
- Komura means lunch duty happens precisely on the day Mie can barely see.
- さん is an honorific suffix attached to a person’s name to show respect and social distance, roughly equivalent to “Mr.”, “Ms.”, or “Mrs.” in English, though it’s used far more broadly and doesn’t specify gender or marital status.
Vocabulary
今日 (Today)
今日 refers to the “current day” in which the speaker is living. It is also used to refer to “the present era” or “the present moment”.
給食 (School lunch)
給食 refer to meals provided on a regular basis to a specific group of people at facilities such as schools, companies, and hospitals. Generally, the term is most often used to refer to the lunches served to students at elementary and junior high schools in Japan.
当番 (Duty rotation)
当番 means duty, being on duty, or a rotating turn assigned to someone. It is the turn that falls to a particular person.
See Also
- External: Past tense with 〜た・〜だ
- Grammar: Marking the subject with が
- Grammar: Marking the topic with は and も
- Grammar: Quoting and reporting with と and って
- Grammar: Connecting actions with 〜て・〜で
- Kanji: Eating and food with 食
- Kanji: Now and the present with 今