(#) COLD1 2013-08-07
Alrighty, let's play this game then.
Gomennasai, Gozaimasu is never put together. Period. They're 2 entirely different concepts.
Also, Gomennasai is never actually used unless you are in the wrong, and it's a bad situation. The common usage is sumimasen, especially if it's because of someone else.
Also, in Japan, religion is never asked after. Japanese Buddhism is radically different from the way it is in the rest of the world as it mixes in elements of Shinto, and as such, religion is a sensitive subject. Mostly because most Japanese people have no strong religious feelings. And if they do, they keep it to themselves unless infected with a Western religion.
"Angelicized Japanese" is bullshit, as it's actually Romaji and is used so that you can type Japanese characters in with a regular keyboard by spelling out a word and selecting the correct Hiragana or Katakana phrase.
Domo Arigatou, Gozaimasu is almost never used, it means "Thank you very much" to people who aren't intimate with the language, but the Gozaimasu also means you are putting yourself below (social level) the other person. Domo Arigatou means "Thank you" very, very formally, whereas, Domo means "Thanks" and Arigatou means "Thank you", The common usage is "Arigato Gozaimasu" As in "Thank you for your attention/service".
Dou itashimashite means "Thank you", yes, but it also rarely used, as acknowledging someone that way means you owe them a debt.
That concludes Japanese 101 for the chapter, thanks for your input.
Author's response
Hello again COLD1
I have heard the term Gomennasai used as ‘Excuse me’. And I have never heard ‘sumimasen’
I have heard Gozaimasu as a term of deepest respect. When I bought my first Butsodan, the woman in the store used the term “Domo Arigatu, Gozaimasu.”
Mrs. Po, an elder in the Kaikan, and very much Japanese, told me it meant; ‘Thank you very much gentlesir.’ I was also taught that Arigatu was ‘thanks’, with Domo being an intensifier, changing ‘thanks’ to ‘thank you very much’, and Gozaimasu offering deep respect to someone, usually an elder.
It also stands to reason that a businessman (or woman) would use the formal terms, to avoid giving offense…especially in the presence of people he or she is not familiar with.
In that same store, as there was only one in San Diego at the time, and as that store provides necessities for several Buddhist sects, questions such as ‘which sect’ are common. After all, they are running a business.
~"Angelicized Japanese" is bullshit, as it's actually Romaji and is used so that you can type Japanese characters in with a regular keyboard by spelling out a word and selecting the correct Hiragana or Katakana phrase.~
Perhaps I should have used a different word to describe the spelling, however I consider the alphabet we use to be Angelicized Latin. When one considers that English is a pidgin of German and Norse in the first place, with nearly every other language on Earth having some input, ‘Angelicized’ is not too strong a word. ‘Bastardized’ is more accurate but not as polite.
~ unless infected with a Western religion~
A rather offensive statement, don’t you think?
~Dou itashimashite means "Thank you", yes, but it also rarely used, as acknowledging someone that way means you owe them a debt.~
Dou itashimashite is how I was taught to say ‘you’re welcome’.
~That concludes Japanese 101 for the chapter, thanks for your input.~
I’m probably gonna get a failing grade.
Alorkin