残酷 refers to cruelty in a detached or formal sense. It often conveys a harsh, unfeeling nature, and is used in contexts like describing a cruel fate, merciless acts, or a person's general cruelty. むごい has a more visceral, emotional tone, often evoking feelings or horror, pity, or disgust. It describes cruelty that is particularly shocking, excessive, or disturbing. It's used when discussing violent or disturbing events and can describe physical or emotional cruelty. In essence, 残酷 focuses on the objective quality of cruelty, while むごい highlights the subjective emotional response.

Cruel Angel Thesis 残酷な天使のテーゼ

Literally means “heaven’s messenger” - 天 (heaven) + 使(messenger/envoy).

You have to make (作る) the desk (机) before you can use (使う) it.
Or: if you can remember that angel also uses this Kanji (天使), think "angels live in the つかい (sky)."

The meaning of 天使 and 大使 is closer to "heaven messenger/envoy" and "Great messenger/envoy". If you like at the kanji, 使 has the meaning of envoy, send, messenger. So while, English, and other western cultures, have specific words for those, the japanese are more like a construction because of the difference in culture. And also probably some difference in usage. For example, the emperor is called 天子 and is more like "Heaven's child". 天使 may also not exactly be "angel" as those we are used to. It can also design the Emperor messenger in historical or fantasy setting.

て＼んし

Originally referred to young people of either gender. The meaning has narrowed in modern usage to more commonly refer to boys of elementary school or middle school age.

Shonen is famous anime/manga genre aimed for young boys

Kanji recognition:

A boy, or juvenile/child, is someone who has only lived a small amount (少) of their years (年)

A god 神 tale 話 makes a myth

This is the verb for playing drums or other percussion instruments

Could mean “to knock” on doors and such, like from a certain song 🙃 “Stay with me~ 真夜中のドアを叩き”

If people just waltz in that's super impolite, so knocking (tata sound) is ku-l

To at-ta-ck (た(~あ)たく => たたく).

ほんの minimizes degree or extent, often stressing how small, slight, or limited something is. For example, ほんの少し遅れただけです means “I was only a little late,” and ほんの気持ちですがどうぞ means “It’s just a small token, but please accept it.”

ただの, being the attributive form of ただ, minimizes significance, marking something as ordinary or unremarkable. For example, 彼はただの友達です means “He’s just a friend,” and これはただの冗談だよ means “It’s just a joke.”

In some cases both can be used but with different nuance. 彼はただの子供だ means “He’s just a child,” highlighting that you cannot expect adult behavior from him. 彼はほんの子供だ means “He’s only a child,” emphasizing how very young or immature he is.

たった and ただ are apparently variants of the same word with the っ (促音) strengthening the meaning - think やはり and やっぱり.

In both cases, there are two main uses:
1) Before a noun or counter it can express the smallness or insignificance of something. (ex: たったこれだけ, たった一個)
2) Before a noun expressing time or space it expresses a small amount of distance from something (recency or closeness respectively). (ex: たったいま and ただいま)

[hinative.com]

だけ usually refers to a limited amount (e.g. there's only/just 1 rock), whereas ただ refers to that it's nothing special (it's just a rock)

For the meaning ‘’ free of charge”,
ただ is casual while 無料 (むりょう) is formal.

ただ! An ordinary magic trick

This verb is often used for a smaller, subtler smile, not a big grin. The Mona Lisa is a ほほえむ smile.

Santa (delicately)微 (laughed) 笑 Ho Ho {ほほ}, when his reindeer was replaced by a smiling emu {えむ}.

"Hoho, I see an emu!", he said and smiled

When you eat something tasty, your cheeks (hoho) move, you smile and you say emu (mmmh)

Used as しいんと/しーんと + する/なる. しいん is used for surrounding atmosphere, whereas そっと is used for actions.

Sounds the same as the Italian phrase "sotto voce", which has the same meaning.

To move quietly, you must use soft toes.

If you are so tall then be cautious and do things gently in Japanese house or your head will ruin ceilings

触る(さわる）vs 触れる(ふれる):

触る(さわる): to physically touch something intentionally / with a purpose

触れる (ふれる): touching lightly (or brushing against) something by chance or momentarily, can also be something intangible or abstract like a situation or an emotion

触る (さわる, sawaru) refers to intentional and direct physical contact, often with hands, while 触れる (ふれる, fureru) implies light, indirect, or accidental touch and can also be used metaphorically (e.g., touching on a topic or experiencing culture).

don't touch the FUR (FU). it's REAL. (reru)

Friends (fure) who (ru) touch you emotionally are common

A bit more "polite" than 触る (さわる)

When you want something, you want MOTO (motto/more)

"MOTOMERU on a star" (to the tune of When You Wish Upon a Star)

MOTTO motomeru (I want MORE!)

I WISH (Motomeru) I had a Mechanical Horse, a Moto-Mare - it would be pretty cool.

She WISHED and REQUESTED to eat more(moto) (meru)ns, but her mum wouldn't let her.

I want MOre TO come to ME!

literally "in a dream" or "dreaming"

He was so absorbed pretending to be a cow he started to moo む and chew ちゅう like one

Fate is UNMEasurable

Even (さえ) cutting (ぎる きる 切る) can obstruct something

さえ ぎる
遮る

A person (ひと) looks (みる) at you with focused pupils (ひとみ)

Abbreviation of 止み難て, or やみがて, literally "difficult to stop" or "probably inevitable".

You've got to やがて get here soon

「やがて君になる」the manga

BEFORE LONG, Baba Yaga's Hand (YAGA TE) will catch us.

Baba Yaga is an evil witch in Slavic Folklore.

将来 and 未来 both can mean future, but both words do have their nuances and cannot be interchangeable at times.

将来 (shourai) generally refers to a future that is realistic and personal to a specific person. In other words, this refers to the close future, where actions or events feel expected, tangible, or doable by the person in question. For instance, you can use 将来 to refer to your future occupation, future goals, or a future state of being, say possibly in about 10 years.

未来 (mirai) on the other hand, refers to a general future and can be broadly generalized and applied over society as a whole, rather than a single entity. Whereas 将来 can refer to the close future, 未来 often refers to the distant, unclear future, for example, the future of space exploration or a future in which flying cars exist. These events are more unpredictable on when or uncertain if they may happen.

These two can be interchangeable, of course, if the future is being talked about in a non-technical and non-personal sense. For example, the translation "Japan's future" could use either 将来 or 未来 because "future" in this sense is ambiguous and can mean Japan's near or far future. This breaks, however, when the future is contextualized or clarified.

未来 refers to "the future" broadly and generally. If you want to talk about a specific person's future (as opposed to the future in general), you should use 将来.

You see the future in a mira(ge)

Asuma gave his child name Mirai because he wanted a good future for his child.

I could almost see my *𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲* as if it was a "mirage"「MIRAI みらい」.

This word is actually two words, the copula だ followed by けど.
So you are more likely to see this variant in NOUN is NOUN sentences
小さい部屋だけど、(It's a small room, but...)
Than you are in NOUN does VERB ones (or NOUN is いADJECTIVE ones)
雨が降っているけど、(it's raining, but...)
大きいけど弱い。(big but weak.)

Shares the same meaning as けど (but).

However, だけど is only used after a complete sentence or a complete logical clause. The だ acts as a copula alongside an invisible __が subject (directly preceding the だ) to effectively state "(It) being (the case), however, ... (contrasting statement)".

しかし Standard way to start a sentence with "However" in essays or news.

だけど or でも Casual. Used at the start of a sentence in daily conversation.

けど or けれど Connective. These join two clauses in one sentence (e.g., "I like it, but it's expensive").

ですが polite version of けど. Used at the end to soften the sentence.

Difference between 羽 and 羽根:
• 羽 refers to feather(s) on a bird.
• 羽根 refers to fallen or processed feathers(s) that originally came from a bird.

羽 has a broader meaning of wings but also feathers and down. It can be used to talk about any kind of wing.

翼 refers specifically to the wings of a bird (or airplane).

[www.italki.com]

Also used for the "lace skirt" in a plate of ぎょうざ

Don't let your pet birds get HONEY (hane) on their *feathers*

Because of; with the goal to;

If it has a purpose (tame) it is not useless (dame)

tame = good
dame = no good

I was born to be in a circus: my purpose in life is to TAME lions.

Having enough time (ため) is *beneficial advantage.*

Your eyes(me) should point(zasu) to AIM.

For most verbs, the target direction/end point of an action is marked by に (indirect object). But here, because the targeting function is built into the meaning of the verb, treat the target as a direct object and use を instead.

Feels literary, poetic, or formal, giving descriptions a sweeping, expansive, or elevated tone. Common in writing, literature, essays, and formal speech; rarely casual conversation.
Reminds me of the phrases 遥か昔 and 遥か遠く, they have a very nice poetic/literary feel.

次の(春か)？ It's still FAR AWAY.

Is spring (はる) far away (か as a question mark)?

Emphasizes the process of building or establishing something over time, can be both literal (buildings) or metaphorical (friendship)

While 建てる is used only for building or constructing something literal (buildings, house, physical structure)

Be careful not to confuse with 気づく/きづく.

"To pound soil or stones and harden it until it become a good foundation", "To pile up stone or soil".
That's the original meaning and why it has those various meanings/nuances. You get also that nuance of "process" that Dango528 was talking about.