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I'm writing a skit but I need a counter for bowls of ramen. ひとつ　ふたつ somehow sounds weird. Is there a counter for bowls?

macraf
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ithisa
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2 Answers2

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Quote from 数え方の辞典 (which I have introduced here before):

ラーメン（拉麺）

数え方：本、杯（はい）、丁（ちょう）、玉（たま）

スープ・具・麺（めん）を椀（わん）や丼に盛ると「杯」で数えます。飲食店で注文を受け、景気付けに店員が「ラーメン一丁」のように「丁」で注文を数えることがあります。ばらばらの麺は「本」、1食分の麺の分量は「玉」で表します。

Community
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Dono
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  • I take it 玉 would mostly be used in the sense of 替え玉{かえだま}？ – nkjt Mar 24 '13 at 12:20
  • @nkjt うどん[玉]{たま}にも「うどん[２玉]{ふたたま}買ってきて～」とかいいます。　http://fujimuraya.com/shopping/shop/udon/image/m0100l.jpg　←普通、これ位の大きさのが[１玉]{ひとたま}。ゆでてある「和そば」や、焼きそば・ラーメン用のゆで麺も、よく「玉」で数えます –  May 13 '13 at 19:57
  • A very misleading answer for most J-leaners. One would need a near-native level proficiency to make use of it. –  Oct 18 '13 at 02:51
  • @TokyoNagoya どう、どう・・・。(←　I mean, "Easy", not "How") –  Oct 18 '13 at 10:44
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    まあ、OPがコンテクストを提示してないし、レストラン/ラーメン屋での会話だとも書いてないし・・・「一日にラーメン３杯食えます」って言ってるかもしれないし・・しょうがないよね～汗　^^; –  Oct 18 '13 at 11:03
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How significant is it when a Japanese learner says a word or phrase sounds weird? ひとつ、ふたつ、みっつ, etc. is by far the most often used way of ordering ramen in a restaurant.

玉 is the counter for the noodle part of a ramen, not for the entire bowl of ramen with noodles, soup, toppings, etc.

杯 is the counter for the whole thing --- noodles, soup and toppings. Some people use this counter for ordering ramen but it is much less common to do so than to use ひとつ、ふたつ、みっつ.

丁 is the counter almost exclusively used by the waiter/waitress to tell the kitchen how many ramen has just been ordered.

本 is almost irrelevant to the original question because it is only used to count the strands of noodle. 　

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    Come to think of it... we use ひとつ、ふたつ、みっつ when ordering coffee, udon, yakisoba, sushi, cheeseburger, french fries and... just about anything! (...except kushi-age and yakitori, maybe?) –  Oct 18 '13 at 04:03
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    “How significant is it when a Japanese learner says a word or phrase sounds weird?” What is this sentence supposed to mean? It sounds a little insulting. – Tsuyoshi Ito Oct 18 '13 at 10:22
  • @Tokyo どう、どう・・・ –  Oct 18 '13 at 10:45