I have been known to critcize the inflammatory way in which some Korean phrases have been translated into English (see the last paragraph here), but this is an opposite case: I'm supposing that "Japanese, shut your mouth" is saying "입닥쳐!" which is actually a fairly nasty thing to say to someone.
Like calling someone crazy (미친 사람, 미쳤다) in Korean, it packs a lot more negative impact in Korean than its literal counterpart in English. Both are, in some sense, "fighting words" in the legal sense.
My point? The person wearing that bit of clothing, if a native Korean speaker, strikes me as a bit of an aßßhole (more so if it had been written in Korean).
Walking around a festival, (possibly) where Japanese tourists might see it, is more than a little assholish. Spoiling for a fight or provoking one is always assholish.
Actually she was working one of the information booths. Classy.
I would have complained to the organizers.
I would specifically have said to them, "'일본사람, 입닥쳐라' is an offensive thing for an employee of this festival to be saying and it is completely inappropriate."
But first I would have, calmly and dispassionately, said the same thing to her.
The Japanese on the Jacket uses old style Chinese characters no longer extant in Japan. Japanese is more simplified, somewhere between the extremes of traditionalist Taiwan, and ultra utilitarian PRC.
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I have been known to critcize the inflammatory way in which some Korean phrases have been translated into English (see the last paragraph here), but this is an opposite case: I'm supposing that "Japanese, shut your mouth" is saying "입닥쳐!" which is actually a fairly nasty thing to say to someone.
Like calling someone crazy (미친 사람, 미쳤다) in Korean, it packs a lot more negative impact in Korean than its literal counterpart in English. Both are, in some sense, "fighting words" in the legal sense.
My point? The person wearing that bit of clothing, if a native Korean speaker, strikes me as a bit of an aßßhole (more so if it had been written in Korean).
Walking around a festival, (possibly) where Japanese tourists might see it, is more than a little assholish. Spoiling for a fight or provoking one is always assholish.
Actually she was working one of the information booths. Classy.
Actually she was working one of the information booths. Classy.
I would have complained to the organizers.
I would specifically have said to them, "'일본사람, 입닥쳐라' is an offensive thing for an employee of this festival to be saying and it is completely inappropriate."
But first I would have, calmly and dispassionately, said the same thing to her.
Working at the information booth and basically telling off an entire segment of tourists? Inexcusable.
but I'm sure she would gladly take their yen, right?
The Japanese on the Jacket uses old style Chinese characters no longer extant in Japan. Japanese is more simplified, somewhere between the extremes of traditionalist Taiwan, and ultra utilitarian PRC.
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