度
do
度 is a notch on a scale
The picture A scale marked in notches, like a thermometer. Each time something happens, the mark climbs one notch; all that changes is how far it has climbed. 回 flatly counts how many loops have closed; 度 says how far up the scale the mark has climbed.
Where the picture shows up in 度
-
the needle at zero
沖縄には一度も行ったことがありません。
okinawa ni wa ichido mo itta koto ga arimasen
I've never once been to Okinawa.
The Okinawa square on the stamp card still blank and white.
-
the next notch
今度、飲みに行きましょう。
kondo, nomi ni ikimashō
Let's go for a drink sometime soon.
Drawing a glass into the next empty box on the calendar.
今度 can mean 'this time' or 'next time'. If it hasn't happened yet, it usually means next time.
-
degrees of heat
熱が三十八度あります。
netsu ga sanjūhachi-do arimasu
My temperature is 38.
The red line in the thermometer stopped at 38.
-
one notch more
すみません、もう一度お願いします。
sumimasen, mō ichido onegai shimasu
Sorry — one more time, please.
A fingertip nudging the mark up one more notch.
回 counts repetitions flatly; 度 carries the feel of having lived through them. 「週に三回」 would sound odd with 度.
-
past the last notch
冗談も度が過ぎますよ。
jōdan mo do ga sugimasu yo
That joke has gone too far.
Liquid brimming past the top mark and spilling over the rim.
All of it in one picture
Okinawa leaves the mark at zero, the next drink is a notch not yet reached, the fever is a mark that has climbed to 38, one more time nudges the mark up a notch, and the joke that went too far has spilled past the top of the scale. Every scene is about how far up the scale the mark has got. 度 isn't a tally of events — it points at a position. That's why 度 carries the weight of what you've been through, and why going too far comes off the very same scale.