21 replies to this topic

[Spantac]

Sometimes I yell at people in German.

SCHNELL!

NIEMALS!!!

Though I can see how irritating I could be, myself.

[Radien]

Having battled my way through four years of Japanese, I'd like to think of these kind of people as merely "misguided youth" who will hopefully learn something more valuable about the culture someday. I don't know what it's like in high schools these days, but I've never thought speaking fragmented Japanese was really "cool" in any way. Fun, sometimes, but not cool.

Sometimes when I'm at an anime convention I have a hard time not using some of the more common "buzzwords," particularly if they describe something in a way that just doesn't sound right in English. For instance, "bishounen" describes a specific concept that is very strong in Japan -- that of a beautiful and androgynous male youth -- so sometimes I use it. "Otaku" also has a very specific meaning, even though Americans usually use it differently from Japanese.

On the other hand, since Americans are very familiar with the concepts of the words "pretty" and "cute," I almost never find it necessary to say them in Japanese ("kirei" and "kawaii," respectively).

Anyway, Ninelives, tell your friends that 100 Japanese words is not impressive, especially if they're only swapping them into English sentences and parroting their pronunciation and meaning.

...Well, okay, don't necessarily tell them all that on my account. But that's what I think.

[Katotetu]

Hmm. Well, Radien, usually people will say "kawaii" because it sounds cuter than "cute"

But yes, I agree.

[LinktheMaster]

Hmm. Well, Radien, usually people will say "kawaii" because it sounds cuter than "cute"

It doesn't sound so cute from teenage boys. "Kawaii" tends to sound cute because anime tends to aim for cute. The voice actors are picked so that they have cute voices. "Bye bye" doesn't sound too cute when people say it in English, but when Ayu said it in Kanon, I almost died from the cuteness. What can I say, I love cute things. Anyway, back to what I was trying to get across, though I'm sure some people say it because it sounds cute when an anime girl says it, it doesn't necessarily mean that the word itself is cute.

[Mr. Pimpy]

Hmm. Well, Radien, usually people will say "kawaii" because it sounds cuter than "cute"

Only on the internet, and then its still stupid to overuse it.

Edited by Sir Pimpalot, 22 May 2007 - 07:42 PM.

[Koopa]

Japanese isn't so big over here, but what we do have - and what gets me worked up - is German/English mixed sentences in much the same way as you're complaining about English/Japanese. And sadly there's at least one English word in some people's every other sentence ... especially in advertising. English is "cool", I suppose.
Worse still, 90% of it is misspelt or gramatically incorecct English.

Such language mixing makes me feel a bit like a certain black mage.

[EnnonFenom]

Japanese isn't so big over here, but what we do have - and what gets me worked up - is German/English mixed sentences in much the same way as you're complaining about English/Japanese. And sadly there's at least one English word in some people's every other sentence ... especially in advertising. English is "cool", I suppose.
Worse still, 90% of it is misspelt or gramatically incorecct English.

Such language mixing makes me feel a bit like a certain black mage.

Then you probably wouldn't like Rammsteins "Amerika" song, I personally like it That song is German/English. If you knew German thats all I would speak in I personally don't like j-inglish.