a couple of language questions.

[vampiresaru]

I preface this with saying my knowledge of Japanese is very very low so don't kill me for my stupidity yet T_T


I was at the Japanese market this morning and held the door open for a nice old woman and her husband. She said doumo arigatou gozaimasu and my books have always said that douitashimashite is basically the equivalent of "you're welcome" or "it was nothing" so I said it without any hesitation... but the she stopped dead in her tracks for a few seconds and and gave me the strangest look I have ever seen. It could just be that she was suprised I knew a little Japanese but just in case was that perhaps an improper thing to say in that situation?

A little later when I was stock piling natto I heard someone else say "natto futari" and the person with her grabbed 2 of the natto multipacks they had. My question here is I thought "futari" was a counter for 2 people. I've looked it up a bit on google and I can only come up with the counter for people... are there other uses for that counter I cannot find?

thanks for any insights you can give!

As to the former, I can't help.

The latter, I can only give you a guess: Perhaps the translation would be, 'natto for two people' - with of course, the 'for' not directly translating and being implied. It would make sense depending on how big the packages are.

Or it could be slangy.

Remind me to invest in a slang dictionary someday....

[vampiresaru]

hehehe they were elderly people and when you said slang the first thought i had was the one time my grandma called me dawg ^_^

as for the "for two people" it seems to make perfect sense to me there was 2 and I tend to eat 1 of the 3 packs a week so I can see it. I always try to over analyze the simplest of things when I am working with japanese! -_-

[Talbain]

It's off the hook!

[Shii]

Originally Posted by vampiresaru

It could just be that she was suprised I knew a little Japanese but just in case was that perhaps an improper thing to say in that situation?

It's because you're a gaijin. She was surprised, not annoyed.

[Talbain]

<sarcasm?>
You have to remember, people outside of Japan do not speak Japanese.
</sarcasm>

lol, I had a similar experience. I went to Japan as an exchange student, and I was asked to help another Japanese student out with English. Because it wasn't the first time I met her, I said "doozo yoroshiku" rather than "hajimemashite" when greeting her, I didn't know what else to say. She then looked suprised and maybe embarassed or something, and then she said the same thing back.

I guess the Japanese really do find it weird when non-Japanese know Japanese, even if you say things wrong. I mean, they were suprised that I could write kanji pretty well, but that's because I'm Chinese.

[Carl]

It can be fun to throw off Japanese people by starting a coversation with ういっす! or ちわっす!, or by replying to questions with an inqusitive なになに?

Eh, it isn't just the Japanese.

[GreatSaintLouis]

But that guy's from California, which explains everything.

They don't quite speak English there either, obviously.

[Haeleth]

Originally Posted by GreatSaintLouis

They don't quite speak English there either, obviously.

Not even close to it.

In fact, the only place in America where they even nearly speak English is, I'm led to believe, Boston.

[ChocoEd]

Originally Posted by Haeleth

In fact, the only place in America where they even nearly speak English is, I'm led to believe, Boston.

Hate to burst your bubble...

[JRaiKetchum]

Originally Posted by Haeleth

Not even close to it.

In fact, the only place in America where they even nearly speak English is, I'm led to believe, Boston.

Really? I always thought it was in the Maryland/Virginia area where you HAVE to be prim and proper to be in the government. But then again...

You want to hear some fun perversion of the English language, listen to rednecks from my region. XD We have practically our own language so to speak! And I'm guilty of using it from time to time ^^;

Ja, ne
-Rai