See, I totally get that. In Japanese, the length and formality of an apology depends on the relationship between people, their relative status and the severity of the wrong, and when I figured this out my brain started analyzing each and every apology I give out and every one I get.
:/ Drives me nuts sometimes, although I know I've gotten into the bad habit of not attaching 'I'm' to my apologies sometimes because Japanese has infected my speech patterns! In Japan, saying 'I'm' sorry, or 'I' apologize can sometimes be taken as incredibly direct and familiar/intimate.
Which frustrates the hell out of my friends, but I haven't found a way to remember not to do it! At least they get a kick out of my other language mix-ups... (Like leaving out important nouns in English, or jumbling all the verbs at the end. They really like that one.)
- People who think that approaching from behind at 60 when you're going 50 in a 50 zone is going to magically make you speed up. - People who block the passing/fast lane on the highway by driving the same speed as the car beside them.
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:/ Drives me nuts sometimes, although I know I've gotten into the bad habit of not attaching 'I'm' to my apologies sometimes because Japanese has infected my speech patterns! In Japan, saying 'I'm' sorry, or 'I' apologize can sometimes be taken as incredibly direct and familiar/intimate.
Which frustrates the hell out of my friends, but I haven't found a way to remember not to do it! At least they get a kick out of my other language mix-ups... (Like leaving out important nouns in English, or jumbling all the verbs at the end. They really like that one.)
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- People who block the passing/fast lane on the highway by driving the same speed as the car beside them.
These are my two biggest driving pet peeves.
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