I really like this generalizing term for brothers and sisters.
兄弟 --きょうだい; けいてい -- siblings; brothers and sisters;
ご兄弟; 御兄弟 -- ごきょうだい -- (hon) siblings; brothers and sisters
Not every languages has such term. In English it is "siblings', in German - 'Geschwister'.
And 2 manga series with the term 'kyoudai':
by 如月弘鷹 (Kisaragi Hirotaka)
限定 --げんてい -- limit; restriction
by 舵英里 (Kaji Eiri)
帝国 --ていこく-- empire; imperial;
Manga vol.1 by 鳥人ヒロミ (Toribito Hiromi) is set in Taishou era 大正時代 - (1912 -1926). Overall very a lovely manga with fantastic historical setting and clothes, but what I found very amusing - a misplaced reference in ch.1 page 8.
The character Suo (すおう) makes a witty remark in relation to the name of another character Godou (ごどう) - ゴドーを待ちながら which is a Japanese translation of the French play En attendant Godot by Samuel Beckett (the première in 1953). If the manga is set in Taishou, Sou makes one hell of a future-teller by quoting the name of the play that will not be seen for the next 25 years ^__^
The makes the interraction even more exciting.
Magazine モーニング (Morning) the cover featured crossover of two mangas - by こなみ かなた (Konami Kanata) and by よしなが ふみ (Yoshinaga Fumi)
The first is about the adventure of a sweet kitty Chi and the second - a cooking manga about a lawyer who loves to cook and his boyfriend, a hairdresser.
Kenji is jealous over Kakei being sweet to Chi <<<3
Chi is saying おなかすきまちた
Jim Breen offers a dictionary entry:
お腹が空く; お腹がすく --おなかがすく -- to become hungry; to get an empty stomach
The manga by 水城 せとな - Mizushiro Setona consisting of 2 tankoubons with the most beautiful titles I've ever seen.
- The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese
Kyuuso wa chiizu no yume o miru
窮鼠 --きゅうそ-- cornered rat or mouse
- A Carp on the Chopping Block Jumps Twice
Sojou no koi wa ni do haneru
俎上 --そじょう-- (n) on the chopping board
鯉 --こい -- (n) common carp; koi carp
is already out and it is a must-hear.
is upcoming in the 25.11.2009
I absolutely love the concept of comparing the emotional/physical condition to animals, and I want to start collecting the saying related to the animals/fishes/birds alike.
Jim Breen offers more about cornerned mouses and carps:
More to come when I find new expressions that feature animals.
甘い話; うまい話 【うまいはなし】 (n) too good to be true stories (offers) (e.g. scams and frauds)
うまい話にはウラがある -- there is always a catch to smth good.
甘い 【あまい】 (exp,adj-i) (1) (uk) sweet; delicious
ウラ --- うら --- 裏 --- back, reverse side
知合い 知り合い --- しりあい --- acquaintance
親しい友達 ---したしいともだち --- best friend
親友 --- しんゆう --- the very best friend
drinking buddy:
飲み友達 --- のみともだち ---
飲み仲間 --- のみなかま ---
A really amusing way of describing your friends in Japanese 
Intermediate Lesson #2 - Meet Hideo and Mel!
まさか --- unbelievable
The first time I noticed this expression was in manga: story by 橘紅緒 (Tachibana Vineo) and art by 宝井理人 (Takarai Rihito)
page 45:
Drama CD: Seven Days Monday - Thursday
track 1 MONDAY --- 16'17''-16'20''
how awesomely 中村悠一 (Nakamura Yuuichi) says this まさか 、 .... ね .... [!!!!!!]
manga vol.2 .
ホチキス; ホッチキス - stapler
Funny enough Japanese word is made of the name Hotchkiss. There was who was an gunmaker in 19th century. But the origin of the Japanese word comes rather from the name E. H. Hotchkiss- an owner of the company that imported staplers as The Strange Tale of the Hotchkiss
investigates. Amusing, to say the least.
