Colloquial Japanese Lesson 2: "Uzai!"

Dearest Minasan,

Do you know that people working in the calling centres are extremely stressed up people? Yes, they smoke! A lot! Big Time! Especially my Japanese colleagues. (Ironically, the heavy smokers are usually the beautiful Japanese ladies instead of the men, according to my experience). They need to vent out their steam (Ha! Pun intended here : )

'Hai! kashikomarimashita! Soredewa, omachishiteorimasu node.....Hai! Hai! Tondemo gozaimasen! Hai! Hai! .......Kashikomarimashita!......Hai! Hai! Shitsure itashimasu!'

Waiting a few seconds later to put the phone down lightly....

'UZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! CHOU UZAI!!! YADA...MO......UZAI NA....!!!'

This is what I call 'hyouhen' (豹変)!

It is always so HILARIOUS to see my Japanese colleagues' facial expression to change from a sweet dainty little angel to an angry ferocious devil before and after the teleconversation! They are always under a lot of pressure to do customers' whimsical requests asap and the word 'uzai' is frequently used to express their dissatisfaction.

Anyway, 'uzai' comes from the word 'uzattai', which means 'troublesome', especially to minute details. Similar Japanese expressions include mendoukusai (面倒臭い), wazurawashii (煩わしい) and uttoushii (鬱陶しい), but these are formal expressions, nevertheless could be used for speaking and writing. 'Uzai' is very informal and colloquial, and can be rather rude. It could be used to refer to a person or a situation. If your boss is very 'uzai', my sympathy and condolences to you : )

By the way, 'tondemo gozaimasen' is a commonly used expression by Japanese, which is WRONG! The funny thing is that many native Japanese themselves don't even realize that! Then again, it's debatable as language is a fluid thang! Will discuss further in lesson 3...soredewa, matta : )

Hi Jeryl, "tondemo gozaimasen" is not a common phrase? How about tondemo naidesu? I was told by my Japanese sensei regarding this phrase, he said we can use it when someone speaks good about us, then we can reply using this expression which is something like "oh...not at all...." I hope I heard my sensei correctly (which is like so many many years ago) But come to think of it, when I used it to my Japanese friend, I remembered she was like "oh~~" :|

Hi Cantabile san,

'Tondemo nai desu' is correct, but 'tondemo gozasimasen' is incorrect.

If you check google, there are lots of articles discussing about the incorrect expression of 'tondemo gozaimasen'.

http://tompei.way-nif...

http://www.asahi-net....

http://yeemar.seesaa....

http://blogs.dion.ne....

However, the articles are all in Japanese. For the benefit of the beginners, I will explain in Colloquial Japanese Lesson 3. Demo chotto mayotteimasu. Colloquial janai kedo....title o kaeyo kana....

PS: You have an interesting nickname. I have to check the dictionary in order to find the meaning of this musical jargon: 'cantabile'. Demo, benkyou ni narimashita : )

Moshikashite you were reading the comic books: 'Nodame Cantabile' by Tomoko Ninomiya?!

Hello Jeryl サン

どうもありがとう！"とんでもないです"使って大丈夫ですね。ほっとした！
どうです！私はNodame Catabileが大好きです！とくに、ドラマバーション。そして、いろんな音楽がすきてクラシクも。ちょっと下手ですがピアノも弾きます。いつかのだめのように上手なピア二ストになりたい。"カンタービレ"は"歌ってるように弾く"という意味です。：D