Day 21: "Nah, chigau, it's nomihoudai. ganbate ne?" PART 1

So the day before yesterday I reminded you about the word NOMIHOUDAI,  and I realised that there are a few things I am going to miss about Japan (of course) but I realised of the things I will miss there are going to be words that I will miss. When you live in Japan and I assume any country, you start to mix your language with that countries' language and you and your friends speak a mix of the 2 languages. This is sometimes called Janglish (just imagine Japanese is Brad Pitt and English is Angelina Jolie, then just mash them up like old Brangelina)

I think Janglish is prettier when it's combined than these two

So today, I would like to tell you about the 5 words that I am going to miss using, or more accurately, will use, get blank stares in response, realise what I just said and then have to explain myself in actual English.

(I said 10 yesterday but to be honest I don't want to make you read an essay so I'll post the other 5 another time)

Before we get going let me address a pet peeve of mine, when anyone on the internet uses the term "untranslatable". Just have a look at this when I googled "Untranslatable words"

Here is how those list should look if the words truly are untranslatable:

1)fbajf- There is no way to tell you what this means

2)jscsc- There is no way to tell you what this means

3)cnbja- There is no way to tell you what this means

Invariably these lists instead are lists of things that have no direct, word for word, translation or  are jsut words for things that we don't have a single word for. If you can explain a word it is not untranslatable it is just not directly translatable, we've gotten pretty good at this whole describing thing with multiple words.

For example:

"The Japanese have a word for that"
"Well we have 7 words but it all ends up meaning the same thing"

Rant over, here is the list of the 10 words I will miss the most in no order:

1) 飲み放題 - NOMIHOUDAI

Of course I have to start with this one, I would say that it isn't just the fact that the UK doesn't really have all you can drink much, it's also how casually all you can drink is in Japan. I feel that if I was going to go to an all you can drink in the UK everyone knows it is going to be messy (Even when it isn't all you can drink it's messy!). But in Japan nomihoudai is everywhere, and it's perfectly acceptable.

I feel the menu for nomihoudai in the west would just say "Please don't bankrupt us"

食べ放題 - TABEHOUDAI

So if nomihoudai is all you can drink can you guess what TABEHOUDAI is? Yes, well done you, it does mean "all you can eat". Gold star for you. So again it is fairly obvious why I will miss this, and before you say it I know that the UK has all you can eat buffets, but does it have all you can eat fried beef?

Those numbers are the varieties of cut, bet u didn't even know there were 92 different parts of a cow

That is YAKINIKU, literally "fried meat", and you get given the raw beef and cook it yourself over a gas heater built into your table. I love it, and when I find a restaurant that lets you order as much of this as you want in a set 90 minute time period, I am pretty much in heaven!

ね - NE

Anyone who has heard me speak Japanese and understands Japanese knows that I love to use "NE". The closest translations would be something similar to "isn't it?" or "Don't you think?". To be a little more accurate it is a form of rhetorical question at the end of a sentence or statement that suggests a mutual understanding and is used to help the group cohesion. It sort of softens what you are saying away from being a purely personal opinion. 

ALTs will use it like so:

"It's hot ne?"

"That sounds great, I'll see you later ne?"

"Maybe we shouldn't have decided to climb this mountain 30 times ne?"

"That's a lot of ramen, whoever ate all of that must have something wrong with them ne?"

がんばって - GANBATTE

Sometimes translated as "Good Luck" GANBATTE is much closer to "Do your best" or "You can do it". When English speakers would say "good luck" before a race, test, performance etc. Japanese people say "Ganbatte". I think it is brilliant because it implies that you have a lot more control over the situation and your fate than "good luck" does. That being said, it also removes the chance factor which I think can be very important. You can study harder than anyone for a test but if someone else studied only the things that came up and you studied everything equally you may do worse. 

I believe that chance and action equally dictate our lives, however, in my opinion, we are victims of chance but masters of our own fate. I mean to say, chance may control our lives but action dictates what the odds are of chance taking control. 

Ganbatte is also thoroughly encouraging. While running (poorly) in my school sports day the students were shouting GANBATTE and I feel it is the perfect mix of reminding you that your fate is in your own hands, while also telling you that the person saying it believes in you. 

"Your going to eat 31 days of ramen? Thats crazy but ganbatte!"

ちがう - CHIGAU

This one I love and now use all the time, so much so that it has influenced the way that I use English. CHIGAU means "different". Sounds simple, and it pretty much is. It's not the meaning that I love, it's the use.

In class when a student answers and they get the wrong answer the teacher doesn't say they are wrong they say CHIGAU, "different".

It's simple, and it may be less of an important difference to Japanese people, but for me telling a student that the correct answer is different to the one they gave seems less discouraging than just saying "no" or "that's wrong".

When I say it has changed my use of English I mean that I occasionally say "different" when some makes a mistake (I'm going to be such a weirdo when I go home). It doesn't quite work the same with English's need for the subject but in Japanese they don't need to say what's different, it's just implied.

Remember this? Lets place spot the CHIGAU