Japanese with Manga

Sell-by date with 期限

Kanji Explanation: Boundaries and limits with 限

Manga panel from 三ツ星カラーズ showing example of Sell-by date with 期限.
三ツ星カラーズ » Volume 2 » Page 102

The confectionery shop owner is out shopping when the trio Colors appears.

おかし屋(や):
「カラーズちゃんあとでうち寄(よ)って期限(きげん)近(ちか)いおかし持(も)ってってよ」
“Colors, stop by my place later and take some of these snacks that are near their sell-by date.”
Literal: “Colors, come by my place later and take snacks whose deadline is close.”

Key Points

1期限(きげん) here = an expiry-related time limit
  • In this scene, 期限(きげん) is being used for the date limit on food, so the natural English idea is “sell-by date” or “expiry date”, not an assignment-style deadline.
  • On actual packaging, Japanese often uses more specific labels like 賞味(しょうみ)期限(きげん) or 消費(しょうひ)期限(きげん), but in casual speech 期限(きげん) alone can still point to that kind of limit when the context is snacks.
2期限(きげん)(が)近(ちか)いおかし = “snacks whose expiration date is close”
  • 期限(きげん)近(ちか)い is a noun-modifying phrase describing おかし.
  • The omitted が is very natural in casual speech.
3持ってって = casual contraction of 持って行って
  • 持ってって is a spoken contraction of 持って行(い)って.
  • Here it means “take them with you”.
4あとでうち寄(よ)ってよ = a casual invitation
  • 「うち寄(よ)って」 means “stop by my place”, with うち meaning “my place / home / shop” depending on context.
  • The ending よ gives the line a friendly, casual push: “come by later, okay”.
  • ちゃん is an affectionate, informal suffix attached to names, used mainly for children, close friends, and family members.

See Also

三ツ星カラーズ © its respective creators. It is used here for educational commentary.