Several expressions I'm not sure about


Even with a dictionary and Google translate I don't understand what this means
(the company president is saying this while at his employee's home on new year
Eve, explaining why he's come specifically at that time):

> 何しろ君社長ともなれば年始の挨拶に来る客が入れ代わり立ち代わりとてもじゃないがつきあいきれんよ

Let's break this down:

> 君社長ともなれば

"Even if you become president"?

> 年始の挨拶に来る客

"Guests who come to New Year greetings"

> 入れ代わり立ち代わり

This is a single word that means "by turns" according to my dictionary.

> とてもじゃないが

"Simply (cannot)" according to my dictionary.

> つきあいきれんよ

つきあい is to socialize, or go out with. きれ or きれん I have no idea.

From there I don't see how to make sense of the whole thing. "I simply cannot
socialize by turn (with?) guests who come for New Year greetings"?




>
> 「何{なに}しろ君社長{きみしゃちょう}ともなれば年始{ねんし}の挨拶{あいさつ}に来{く}る客{きゃく}が入{い}れ代{か}わり立{た}ち代わりとてもじゃないがつきあいきれんよ。」

If this "sentence" seemed difficult to understand, it would be mostly because
it was a **spoken** sentence and not a written one. At least, the vocab level
is fairly intermediate.

I have stated this here a few times before without much success but will state
it again. _**Try to spot the "hidden" commas (and even periods at times)**_.

> 君社長ともなれば = "Even if you become president"?

Nope, that is not what it means. It is not 君 who becomes or will become the
president. The speaker is the president. Let us use a comma to illlustrate the
grammar used at the beginning.

> 「何しろ君社長ともなれば」 ⇒ 「何しろ、君、社長ともなれば」
>
> "At any rate, **you see** , when one becomes a (company) president, ~~"

「君」 here is only _**addressing**_ the listener. For the advanced learner, 「君」
in this usage is often, if not always, pronounced differently than 「君」 as a
regular pronoun. It is often pronounced 「きみぃ」.

The middle part of your TL attempt actually looks good, so let us move on
right to the last part.

> 「つきあいきれんよ」, of course, means the same thing as 「付き合いきれないよ」

_**" Verb in Continuative Form + きる" means "to do something thoroughly or
completely"**_.

「つきあいきれんよ」 would therefore mean " _ **I cannot keep up with (them)**_."

Back to adding the hidden commas and periods... The following would be one
(safe) way to do it.

> 「何しろ、君、社長ともなれば、年始の挨拶に来る客が入れ代わり立ち代わり。(or a comma) とてもじゃないがつきあいきれんよ。」

My own TL:

> " _ **At any rate, you see, when one becomes a company president, guests
> just swarm in one after the other for the New Year's greetings. I simply
> couldn't keep up with them**_."




>
> 「何{なに}しろ君社長{きみしゃちょう}ともなれば年始{ねんし}の挨拶{あいさつ}に来{く}る客{きゃく}が入{い}れ代{か}わり立{た}ち代わりとてもじゃないがつきあいきれんよ。」

If this "sentence" seemed difficult to understand, it would be mostly because
it was a **spoken** sentence and not a written one. At least, the vocab level
is fairly intermediate.

I have stated this here a few times before without much success but will state
it again. _**Try to spot the "hidden" commas (and even periods at times)**_.

> 君社長ともなれば = "Even if you become president"?

Nope, that is not what it means. It is not 君 who becomes or will become the
president. The speaker is the president. Let us use a comma to illlustrate the
grammar used at the beginning.

> 「何しろ君社長ともなれば」 ⇒ 「何しろ、君、社長ともなれば」
>
> "At any rate, **you see** , when one becomes a (company) president, ~~"

「君」 here is only _**addressing**_ the listener. For the advanced learner, 「君」
in this usage is often, if not always, pronounced differently than 「君」 as a
regular pronoun. It is often pronounced 「きみぃ」.

The middle part of your TL attempt actually looks good, so let us move on
right to the last part.

> 「つきあいきれんよ」, of course, means the same thing as 「付き合いきれないよ」

_**" Verb in Continuative Form + きる" means "to do something thoroughly or
completely"**_.

「つきあいきれんよ」 would therefore mean " _ **I cannot keep up with (them)**_."

Back to adding the hidden commas and periods... The following would be one
(safe) way to do it.

> 「何しろ、君、社長ともなれば、年始の挨拶に来る客が入れ代わり立ち代わり。(or a comma) とてもじゃないがつきあいきれんよ。」

My own TL:

> " _ **At any rate, you see, when one becomes a company president, guests
> just swarm in one after the other for the New Year's greetings. I simply
> couldn't keep up with them**_."

