Ginger is the spice of life

It occurs to me that my legions of non-Japanese readers (do five or so regulars constitute a legion?) may be logging on here in the hope of improving their knowledge of Japan and the Japanese language. While I know little of either, I realise I have failed to offer anything much in the way of Japanese language tuition beyond the nicknames I have given my family. Well, consider this post Lesson One in essential Japanese from your self-appointed cultural attache.

• Sho ga nai said with a shrug of resignation, means "Such is life". However, keen Japanophiles and consumers of raw fish and tempura fried vegetables will know that "shoga" means "ginger" and "nai" means "none". So, said at the dinner table the expression can mean "There's no ginger." How my wife almost laughed once when I made this lame joke. I make it every time we have tempura and the mother-in-law says she has forgotten to bring the ginger from the fridge. Ahem. Now, get back to your grammar practice.