Sure, I've technically been studying Japanese for like 12 years now (though high school doesn't really count, so shave off 5 years), but even still, I tend to underestimate how much I know. So even though I can take a shot and try to guess the actual meaning of what people said, I usually ask people to explain what they meant so I can make sure I understand it.
So today, when my young English teacher explained to me that another fellow male teacher had a problem, I asked the guy teacher if he was okay. Under his breath, he replied with a single word : "musei".
In my mind, I was trying to fit the pieces together.
mu 無=no,
sei, 性= sex, gender
Was he saying he was asexual? Or a lack of sex? Or should I assume that they were talking about something else that was workplace friendly? After all, sei could be written in a variety of different ways in Japanese - 姓, 正, 制 - which could mean surname, correct, system, or maybe dozens of others that I hadn't even thought of. I thought I'd ask to make sure.
"Well," uttered my young English teacher, clearing his throat as he thought of what words he could put together to make himself understood. "He doesn't have a girlfriend, and so he hasn't made love for a time. And he is very erotic. So today he got up and he was wet. Do you have ever wet?"
I took this as a lesson and reminder as to why I should just trust my instincts and guess the meaning rather than wait for the potentially awkward explanation that inevitably comes right after.
1 comment:
...musei.
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