Translation guide
The English word 'crunching' can refer to the sound of something being crushed, the act of chewing noisily, or processing data. This guide covers natural Japanese expressions for each meaning.
Describing the sound of something hard being crushed, like gravel underfoot or biting into a crisp apple.
Describing the act of eating something crunchy and making noise while chewing.
A common phrase using the onomatopoeia 'ポリポリ' for a light, crisp crunching sound, like eating raw vegetables or small snacks.
彼女はにんじんをポリポリ食べている。
She is crunching on a carrot.
Referring to the act of performing many calculations or processing large amounts of data, often by a computer or a person working intensively.
The standard, neutral way to say 'process data'. It covers both computer processing and manual number crunching.
このプログラムは大量のデータを処理する。
This program crunches a large amount of data.
Do not use onomatopoeia like ザクザク to describe data processing. It will sound like the computer is making a physical crunching noise. Use 処理する or 計算する instead.
Japanese has many onomatopoeic words for crunching sounds. The choice depends on the texture and loudness. ザクザク is rough and granular, バリバリ is hard and loud, ポリポリ is light and crisp, and ガリガリ is hard and scraping.
An onomatopoeia for a rough, crunchy sound, like walking on gravel or biting into something hard and crisp.
砂利道を歩くと、ザクザクと音がした。
When I walked on the gravel path, it made a crunching sound.
An onomatopoeia for a loud, hard crunching or crackling sound, often used for eating something very crispy or breaking something rigid.
彼は煎餅をバリバリと食べた。
He crunched the rice cracker loudly.
An onomatopoeia for a hard, scraping crunch, like chewing ice or a very hard candy. Can also imply a grinding sensation.
氷をガリガリ噛むのは歯に悪い。
Crunching on ice is bad for your teeth.
Used for louder, more vigorous crunching, like eating hard chips or crackers.
子供たちはポテトチップスをバリバリ食べた。
The kids crunched on the potato chips.
Literally 'calculate numerical values'. Used when the focus is on number crunching, like in accounting or statistics.
彼は一日中数値を計算していた。
He was crunching numbers all day.
A loanword from English, used in technical contexts like 'number crunching' or 'data crunching'. It is understood by IT professionals but not common in everyday speech.
このサーバーはナンバークランチングに特化している。
This server is specialized for number crunching.