RocketJim's

Cultural Exchanges

Hitorigoto - Talking to yourself. People who live by themselves or old people are more inclined to do this. Women, on any day uses an average of 45000 words (Men? About 20000). Moral of the story? Stay out late.

KY or Kuuki ga yomenai - 'Not being able to read the air'; essentially pointing to people who have zero social skills. For example, talking about your latest boyfriend infront of a friend who recently broke up.

Piman - Capsicum. Anyone referred to as a capsicum is essentially stupid or a bimbo. Imagine the fruit (veggie??). When u cut it in half, it's essentially empty isn't it? How smart. The Japanese uses this to refer to what we more commonly know as 'bimbos' or 'dumb-blondes'.

Unmei no akai ito - The fateful red thread. For us Chinese, the red thread is tied around our ankles. Japanese believe it is tied around the wrist.

Anata - 'You' or 'Dear'. Basic Japanese teaches all beginners to refer to another person as 'anata'. Eg. I am fine, what about you(anata)? I was confused when I keep hearing wives their husbands 'anata' on tv. So rude! Akin to Singlish's 'Oy!' until I realised it can also mean 'Dear'. Now I avoid using the word. Now that I know better, I just keep calling my friends' names. Eg. I am fine, what about Nishi san? Confusing? I hear ya but you will understand what I mean if you know some Japanese.

That's all for this week!