…You’ve seen Peewee’s Playhouse, right?
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I think that’s a sad accusation… (observation? outlook? Accusation seems a bit too strong a word… My mind’s not quite awake yet.)
Anyways how would you actually ask how someone is feeling (mentally/emotionally)? Would something like 実感はどう？ or 何は実感ですか? be appropriate? I have a feeling since I used such a strong word for “real feelings” there rather than 事情 or 感情, it would only be used for close relationships - long term friends and family members and spouses… But is there a way to ask that - and be sincere - in Japanese without being rude?
When I ask “How are you?” in English, 49 out of 50 times I mean it - even when I was constantly seeing thousands of people a day doing customer service. (And that’s why the 2% slip through the cracks.)
And how about a simple “What’s up?” (aka "what have you been up to lately?/What are you doing later/now? etc…) Even in colloquial/informal Japanese, I haven’t noticed something like this yet - certainly not consistently.
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Hmm… is it 「ちょうしはどう？」？
Someone suggested 調子どう (and in casual speech a lot of particles get omitted - I’ve succeeded in dropping a few myself on HelloTalk once… Haven’t tried again since.)… Maybe that moreso?
Yea exactly.
I also feel the irony in this thread as while I was reading it a Japanese person literally said 元気ですか to me.
@AnimeCanuck “What’s Up?” is more of a phatic expression, hence the reason it doesn’t really translate. Perhaps the Kansai どないでっか is the closest to “What’s up?” but it only has one acceptable answer anyway.
I did see them mention that above. But no one really commented on it. I was hoping we could get a few different perspectives on it because I have used that on HelloTalk before.
Hmm…that is really quite limited. Phatic? I haven’t studied linguistics and have not come upon this year before in previous language studies.
Phatic expression - Wikipedia A Phatic Expression is basically something which serves a social function. One can also call it idiomatic as the phrase clearly is.
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Yeah, but I’m not using it as a social function - that’s my point. (And thanks for an explanation.)
If I want to use something that way, I’ll pull a “How you doin’?” like Joey… Although that social function is a different one…
I’ve never heard “What’s up?” used any other way.
I’d never get that out of “What’s up?” If people use it that way where you live, there’s nothing wrong with that. But I’ve never once experienced it being used that way.
I would think the same thing would carry over when you try to translate to Japanese. If I want to know what someone is doing later, I’m just going to say something like “Hey, what are you up to later?”.
If I were to say “What’s up?”, I’d expect to get a response along the lines of “Not much, what’s up with you?” or “Oh, just been working a lot lately.” Or something like that.
TLDR; I agree with Syphus that it’s a phatic expression. (I’m not at all saying that you’re wrong. Just adding my two cents to the discussion)
But it is, even if you’re generally interested in what the person is doing, the question itself is a social one. If you want to ask what someone is doing, you can literally ask, if you want to ask how someone is doing, you can literally ask.
On the other hand, these just aren’t common greeting type questions in Japanese. 元気？, 最近どう, etc will get the point across. But if the question isn’t common to ask then it really doesn’t matter what you say.
Yeah, that’s what I was trying to say but makes much more sense put into those 7 words. xD
I’m with you, @AnimeCanuck, if I ask how someone is doing, I genuinely want to know and care about their answer. But society has changed it into something that’s just a typical greeting rather than a real question.
I have a feeling it’s actually rare to genuinely want to know how the other person feels; people are busy and put less priority on social interaction when it’s interrupting their flow. But it’s easy to tell whether it’s a (in)sincere question by the tone of voice.
It is. That’s exactly why it’s a phatic expression.
x-post from I can haz meme?
https://community.wanikani.com/t/i-can-haz-meme/15657/20?u=plantron
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At the same time though… that’s because learners are learning how to speak as naturally as possible, of course natives don’t care as long as they understand you, just because they don’t care… doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to figure out the more natural way to say things. Different Japanese care about different things. In my conversations some cared about あなた, some told me that I was using too much 敬語, some don’t care about either. I dunno.
Learners were making a big hub-ub here about how natives never say ”元気？” And my Japanese tutur always includes it in his hello so I do too.
I can’t decided if I’m agree or disagreeing anymore. lol
Anyway Thanks @Otterman, thanks @Leebo. That totally makes sense to me now.
I think it’s just that learners perceive あなた as a much bigger deal than it actually is. Some people will may make a big deal about it, but I’ve also had a number of Japanese people refer to me as あなた. I’ve even been referred to as 君 by people who weren’t my girlfriend or boss.
As far as 元気 I generally just hear it when I haven’t talked to someone in a little while.
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元気 is a centerpiece of Japanese education:
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I want to change society back.
That’s a good one to keep in my back pocket.
…But is the answer really “just don’t”?
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I read that, too. I think it was in the first version of Human Japanese.