Humorist Dave Barry, in his 1992 book ¡°Dave Barry Does Japan,¡± wrote that as his family traveled the country, ¡°nobody ever told us we couldn¡¯t do anything, although it turned out that there were numerous things we couldn¡¯t do.¡±
He summarized some key English phrases used by Japanese people he encountered and the equivalent meanings ¡± in American.¡± According to Barry, ¡°I see¡± and ¡°yes¡± in fact mean ¡°no,¡± while ¡°that is difficult¡± means ¡°that is completely impossible.¡± Barry adds that ¡°we will study your proposal¡± means ¡°we will feed your proposal to a goat.¡±
Barry was, of course, exaggerating for effect ¡ª but just a bit. His wider point carries weight, as ÔS¿É¤òÇó¤á¤ë (kyoka o motomeru, asking permission) in Japan can be a challenge thanks to a host of vocabulary, varying degrees of polite language and the need to Òâζ¤ò½âዤ¹¤ë (imi o kaishaku suru, interpret the meaning) behind certain phrases or even šÝ¤Þ¤º¤¤ég (kimazui ma, awkward pauses).
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