僕は悠々自適に過ごしている。

Hey everyone, this Friday I was studying some Japanese yojijukugo(四字熟語) or 4-kanji idiomatic phrases through Japanesepod101.com and came accross an expression I really liked so I decided to share it with you. I have used that site to study Japanese for awhile and if you want you can check out their sister site, for Japanese learners of English, Englishpod101.com or sign up for their free podcasts via iTunes.

Anyways, I learned the cool phrase:

僕は悠々自適に過ごしている。

Boku wa yuuyuujiteki ni sugoshite iru.

Where 悠々自適 means living a life of leisure. In Japanese, it has the added connotation of having the financial means (i.e. the money) to do what you want. Because of this, it is most often used by retirees...

The whole sentence would translate as:

I'm living a life of leisure.

This is the most formal sounding translation but probably also the closest in meaning to the Japanese. This says you are living a life where you relax and do what you want with total freedom.

I'm living a leisurely life.

This still sounds kind of formal in English and has the similar (well maybe it has a bit stronger connotation of having lots of free time) meaning as:

I'm living a relaxing life.

This is much more casual and natural sounding in North American English.

I'm living a carefree life.

This means you are living a life free of worries. ^_^ In which case you are pretty lucky~!

I really like all the nuances of the Japanese expression and that's how I feel about my life these days so I will finish this post by saying:

僕は悠々自適に過ごしている。

Phil