Tweet of the Week

Around the world, text messaging has changed the way we communicate. Today’s youth will take messaging apps over answering a call in most situations—and Japan is no exception. But the thing is, online communication can be super tricky thanks to all the special lingo, emojis and autocorrect making it all too easy to misinterpret the meaning of a message.

Wait…what?

According to the pictures of this pamphlet about using social networking services (SNS), some people seem to really struggle with text speak. As a result, they can end up saying exactly the opposite of what they meant to say.

10:0でまいちゃんが悪い pic.twitter.com/JgenzkV5Wq

— 四二一 (@yoniichi421) April 8, 2019

10:0でまいちゃんが悪（わる）い = It’s 100% Mai-chan’s fault

The pamphlet shows an extract of a group conversation on what looks to be LINE, a popular messaging app in Japan:

まい:

今度（こんど）の日曜（にちよう、映画えいが行いかない？= Wanna go see a movie next Sunday?

あや:

行（い）こう行（い）こう！= Let’s go! Let’s go!

カズ:

おれも行（い）く！= I’m going too!

まい:

カズはなんで行（い）くの = Why are you going?

カズ:

おれ行（い）っちゃ悪（わる）いの? = Is it bad if I come?

カズ:

なんだ、誤解（ごかい）したよ。ごめん！= Seems like I got confused. Sorry!

まい:

もういいよ カズは友達（ともだち）じゃない = You’re not my friend

カズ:
………

Wow, those are some pretty harsh sentences from Mai to Kazu. But don’t worry, it’s simply a case of things getting lost in cellular translation. Here’s what Mai actually wanted to say:

カズはなんで行（い）くの = Why are you going?

Was meant to be:

カズはなにで行（い）くの？ = How are you getting there?

And instead of:

もういいよ。カズは友達（ともだち）じゃない = It’s fine, you’re not my friend

Mai chan wanted to say:

もう誤解（ごかい）しなくていいよ カズは友達（ともだち）じゃない？= There’s been a misunderstanding. We’re friends, no?

But can we really blame text messaging in this instance? User @yoniichi421 shared his doubt on Twitter and most people agreed with him. More than a few wondered just how Mai could speak her mother tongue so badly.

SNSトラブルより、まいちゃんの日本語能力の低さのが心配。

— 井坂P@吐き気を催す⭐邪悪 (@KillerQueen765) April 9, 2019

SNSトラブルより、まいちゃんの日本語能力（にほんごのうりょく）の低（ひく）さのが心配（しんぱい）。= Rather than worrying about her issues on SNS, I worry about her low level of Japanese.

Mean Mai VS Poor Kazu

You’ve probably noticed that we translated @yoniichi421’s 10:0 with “100%,” but what does it mean exactly?

To understand, you’ll need to know a little bit about what happens after a car accident in Japan. When the police establish the accident report, they will evaluate using a ratio of how much responsibility is shared by each driver. For example, if both drivers share responsibility equally, the report will show 5:5.

Here, @yoniichi421 is saying that Mai bears 100% of the responsibility, while Kazu has done nothing wrong, i.e. “0.”

Making comparisons in Japanese using より

The little word より (yori) is essentially used to compare one characteristic to another. You can translate it in English as “than” with the underlying meaning of “(more) than.”

You’ll place より after the noun, adjective or verb that has “less” of what is being discussed than the other noun, adjective or verb it is being compared to:

AよりB = B (more) than A

思（おも）ったより簡単（かんたん）でした。= It was easier than I thought.

Still より can appear with a different word order so pay attention to constructions such as:

A は B より… = A is more… than B

カズはまいより優（やさ）しい。= Kazu is kinder than Mai.

If you’re into Japanese drama, the title Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) will certainly ring a bell:

花）より男子（）

The show’s name comes from an old Japanese proverb, 花（はな）より団子（だんご） or “dumplings are better than flowers.” The saying refers to people who choose substance over style or practicality over aesthetic. Note that in the title of the show it’s written 男子, which is usually read as “danshi” — here it’s a play on words.

You can watch the series (with English subs) on YouTube. Check here for more TV shows that will help you learn Japanese, too!

Vocabulary

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