Translation guide
The English word "scrambling" covers several distinct actions: moving quickly and awkwardly over terrain, mixing or jumbling things, making electronic signals unintelligible, and hurriedly preparing food. This guide breaks down these meanings and provides natural Japanese equivalents for each.
To move hurriedly, often using hands and feet, over rough ground or through obstacles.
To clamber or scramble up something, often using hands and feet. Focuses on the upward climbing motion.
彼は崖をよじ登った。
He scrambled up the cliff.
To crawl or scramble up, often with difficulty. Emphasizes the effort and crawling aspect.
急な坂を這い上がった。
I scrambled up the steep slope.
To hurry forward in a disorganized way. Good for describing a general scrambling motion without specifying climbing.
彼らは慌てて出口へ進んだ。
They scrambled toward the exit.
To move hastily. A more generic phrase that can be used for scrambling in a non-climbing context, but lacks the nuance of awkwardness.
子供たちは急いで動いて席を取った。
The children scrambled to get seats.
To mix things in a confused or disordered way, or to confuse information.
To jumble or mix things up haphazardly. Commonly used for physical objects or abstract things like information.
書類をごちゃ混ぜにしてしまった。
I scrambled the documents.
To confuse or mix up two or more things in one's mind. Often used for concepts, names, or facts.
彼は日付を混同した。
He scrambled the dates.
To stir or mix vigorously. Can be used for scrambling eggs or other ingredients, but is more about stirring than jumbling.
To alter a signal so that it cannot be understood without a decoding device.
To scramble a signal. This is a direct loanword from English and is the standard technical term.
通信にスクランブルをかける。
Scramble the communication.
To encrypt. While not exactly the same as scrambling, it is often used in similar contexts for making data unreadable.
データを暗号化する。
Scramble the data.
To cook eggs by stirring them while frying, or to quickly put together a meal.
To make scrambled eggs. The dish name is a loanword and widely understood.
朝食にスクランブルエッグを作った。
I scrambled some eggs for breakfast.
To scramble eggs (literally 'fry and stick'). A more traditional Japanese cooking term, but less common than the loanword.
卵を炒りつけてください。
Please scramble the eggs.
English 'scramble' in the sense of moving quickly does not have a single direct Japanese equivalent. Using スクランブル (sukuranburu) for this meaning will not be understood. Use context-appropriate verbs like よじ登る for climbing or 慌てて進む for rushing.
卵をかき混ぜる。
Scramble the eggs.