I like to write about my impressions of the Japanese language and how it differs from English, since language is such a big part of what makes people unique. One area Japanese excels at is being vague and open-ended when it wants to be, which is good in some ways — speakers can express subtle ideas indirectly, for example — even as it makes it a challenge for gaijin like us to know what’s being said. One powerful catch-all euphemism in the language is the word are (ah-rey), which really means “that thing over there, away from us” but which can act as a stand-in for anything you don’t want to mention specifically. In episode 6 of Lucky Star there’s a funny scene in which Kagami and her twin sister Tsukasa are talking in the bath. “Actually, today was kind of dangerous. I thought ‘that’ was going to arrive.” “What was?” “You know…’that.'” “Oh, ‘that.’ Yes, I hate it when you have ‘that’ and can’t go swimming with everyone else. And I’d be way too scared to ever use one of ‘those’…” At no time is any word every specified yet communication flows smoothly.
(In case you were wondering, apparently 99.9% of Japanese females prefer pads to tampons. I’ve never met one who didn’t start giggling uncontrollably at the prospect of using a tampon. Apparently someone is buying them because they’re available in stores. If you ever figure Japanese women out, please tell me.)
The Japanese language is good at being vague.
