The only exception you might see in a face-to-face conversation is to ask someone if they are still listening, as a sort of “Hello? Is anyone there?” You should use “Moshi-Moshi” primarily when answering the phone.īut only when you receive a call from friends or family. “Moshi-Moshi” is only used to answer the phone. Due to the influence of the legend, it is still common to say “Moshi-Moshi” on a phone where the other person cannot be seen. Since the phone does not know who the other person is, it is likely that he repeated the same thing twice as “Moshi-Moshi” to prove that he was not a ghost. Although one person was called only once, he said that he was killed by a ghost (Youkai) when he answered.įor this reason, it was decided that people working in the mountains should always call each other twice in a row. A long time ago, there was a theory that ghosts were only called once when they spoke to humans. It is said that the reason for this repetition is that you want to prove that you are not a spirit. “Moshi” in “Moshi-Moshi” is an abbreviation for “I say” and is repeated twice. It is said that around 1902 (Meiji 35), the number of male telephone operators decreased, and most of them are now mainly female telephone operators. As usual, men said “Oi-Oi,” but women said “Moshi-Moshi,” the short form of “Moushi-Moushi,” and both men and women came to say “Moshi-Moshi. “Moshi-Moshi” was established around 1893 (Meiji 26). This woman’s word was used repeatedly, it shrank to “Moshi-Moshi. However, at that time the performance of the phone is poor, and “Moushi-Moushi” is used to say “explanation” that “I will say it” and is shortened to “Moshi-Moshi”. Both are a modest way of saying “Yes, I am ready,” which means that the caller is ready to talk. Therefore, the common “telephone greeting” was “Oi-Oi” or “Hey YOU!” The person on the other end would respond with “Hai, you gozaimasu” or “Hai, you gozansu”. At that time, only rich people could afford telephones.īecause they were rich, they were used to talking down to others. Today, this date is the Telephone Day (Denwa no Hi 電話の日) in Japan. But why “Moshi-Moshi”? Telephones were first introduced in Japan on December 16, 1890. When you make a phone call, the Japanese say “Moshi-Moshi”. Nowadays, Japanese people often use this expression at the beginning of their telephone conversations without thinking about the origin of the phrase. In short, the politeness level of conjugations is as follows: Eventually it was shortened to “Moush (申し) and used to get someone’s attention, such as to say “Hey!” When you say “Moshi Moshi”, you are actually saying “I will talk” twice politely. In particular, they all mean “I will say (speak)”. Originally, the words “Moushiagemasu (申し上げます), Moushimasu (申します), or “Mousu (申す) were used. In the Edo period, it was used in ordinary conversation when speaking to someone of higher status. “Moshi” actually comes from the verb “mousu (申す)” which is a modest form of “to say or 言う (iu). Other phrases you need to know when calling in Japanese.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |