57379
In a manga, two American boxers are talking about a guy they used to know who
now lives in Japan.

> Boxer A: あのブルドッグがリングに上がるって本当かよ。
>
> Boxer B: ああ。ここ数年噂を聞かねェと思ったらボクサーになってたんだよ。日本でな。

I think 数年〜の噂を聞かない means "I haven't heard of 〜 for some years", so maybe the
rough translation of the sentence is "I haven't heard of him for some years,
it seems that he's become a boxer". But what is the meaning of 思ったら here?
Thank you for your help!
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-19T22:22:59.733
57378
2018-03-19T23:10:35.410
17797
question
grammar negation conditionals
Meaning of 噂を聞かないと思ったら
So first of all, your assessment that:

> 数年〜の噂を聞かない

Roughly means:

> I haven't heard of 〜 for some years

Is accurate. [噂を聞く](http://jisho.org/search/uwasawokiku) is a set phrase that
typically means "to hear something about", and doesn't imply negativity the
same way "hearing rumors about someone" does in English.

Moving on to `思ったら`, [this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/30587/7705)
is at least somewhat related, although the linked answer focuses much more on
the omitted clause than on the usage of `思ったら`.

That said, I would think of this sentence:

> ここ数年噂を聞かねェと思ったらボクサーになってたんだよ。

Roughly like this:

> Just when I was thinking I hadn't heard anything about 〜 for a couple years
> now, it turns out he's become a boxer in Japan.

Much the same way we do this with "think" in English, one can use conditional
conjugations of 思う to express that an outcome is novel and/or contrary to what
the speaker is expecting.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-19T23:10:35.410
57379
2018-03-19T23:10:35.410
7705
57378
answer