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By itself, I would say that 「ただいま」 means something like "just now". I've used
it a few times in sentences like this, but it feels somewhat awkward, as I am
always reminded of ただいま戻【もど】りました.

So, for example, would ただいま in the following sentence sound unnatural/awkward?

> ただいま、面【おも】白【しろ】い事【こと】に気【き】づきました。
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2011-11-30T20:43:11.540
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2011-12-02T01:24:05.233
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question
usage meaning expressions
Is it normal to use ただいま in situations other than ただいま戻【もど】りました?
Yes. If you say `ただいまより`, it's like a really formal way to say `今【いま】から`. I've
heard it used at the beginning of formal ceremonies, esp. Western-style
weddings. These situations may not occur very often, but it certainly seems
"normal" to use such a formality.
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2011-11-30T22:02:26.183
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As istrasci says, can be a rather formal word to use. But it also has uses
outside of the super formal ceremonial use - you still hear it fairly often in
announcements, as in those you would hear in an ad or department store.

One common use is with a noun that ends with 中

You've probably heard this in an ad before:

只今、発売中

I just saw this when watching a comedy show when the lead character is doing
nothing:

只今アイドリング中

Also I have heard in this use case when some status is being reported:

只今、到着しました。

This can also be totally informal such as:

只今起きた

只今食べた

You can also say 只今気づいた but my gut feeling is that you can't add the 面白いこと in
there without being awkward, even though it doesn't seem to break any
grammatical rules. I don't have anything to back this up other than most of
the 只今 cases I've heard have been short examples with just the verb or a noun.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
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2011-12-01T05:44:14.707
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I use `只今` often in a business context, for instance when a customer over the
phone wants to talk to X, but X is having a meeting:

```

    只今会議中ですので、終わりましたらXよりお電話させていただきます。
    
```

Also: `只今外出中…` (not at the office) `只今他の電話にでております…` (answering another call)
etc.
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