JellyBelly 1 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Do some Japanese people take a real pride in expressing themselves vague-ly you reckon? There's this dude at work who unfortunately is sort of my boss, in that he regularly has to tell me things to do. But he is never clear. It's always round about and I always feel the need to ask probing questions to be clear as to what he actually wants me to do. You know, so that I can avoid not doing the wrong thing. I think my Japanese is decent enough to understand clear instructions and once he has given up the details I am almost always ok - but I sometimes feel he does the vague stuff on purpose. He seems to take great joy in coming out with the old 'nihongo muzukashii desu ne' and how Japanese language is a vague language. But surely it ain't if you actually talk clearly and get to the point. As you might gather, he's a bit of a tool. But I do sometimes feel that people really take some pride in this and actually try to be vague. Not sure why, to demonstrate to us about their language or something? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I don't know about doing it on purpose but I have a few colleagues who are a bit like that. It is frustrating as I almost know when they start talking that there's going to be a Q&A. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Do some Japanese people take a real pride in expressing themselves vague-ly you reckon? There's this dude at work who unfortunately is sort of my boss, in that he regularly has to tell me things to do. But he is never clear. It's always round about and I always feel the need to ask probing questions to be clear as to what he actually wants me to do. You know, so that I can avoid not doing the wrong thing. I think my Japanese is decent enough to understand clear instructions and once he has given up the details I am almost always ok - but I sometimes feel he does the vague stuff on purpose. He seems to take great joy in coming out with the old 'nihongo muzukashii desu ne' and how Japanese language is a vague language. But surely it ain't if you actually talk clearly and get to the point. As you might gather, he's a bit of a tool. But I do sometimes feel that people really take some pride in this and actually try to be vague. Not sure why, to demonstrate to us about their language or something? Ambiguity might be nice in poems, but you're not talking about poems. I think you're right. The guy is a poor boss, and is also playing the race card to avoid any personal responsibility. Some of it may be PL related, but Japanese manuals for appliances usually include a page dedicated to how to turn on the power switch. It's normally illustrated as well. Conversely, many foreign manuals (even for Japanese appliances) have no illustrations at all, even for complex tasks. If ambiguity was so wonderful for Japanese people, there would be no need for such te-tori ashi-tori way of instructing them. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I have a hard time, too. Wishy washy people wasting my time. Link to post Share on other sites
frannyo 2 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I can totally imagine what the dude is like. Good luck! Lots of people sure do seem to like to bring out the old evergreen muzukashii desu ne at the quickest available situation, which kind of does my head in in itself. Try some sarcastic remark in response and see where the conversation goes - often an even more surreal place when the sarcasm goes over their head and beyond. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Yes I like people getting to the point as well. It can be done politely. Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 There's someone in my office a bit like that. What always gets me is the people who rely on that default "isn't Japanese difficult" at every available opportunity. I don't know what they get out of it, but it's bloody annoying when they say it almost every day! Link to post Share on other sites
Jynxx 4 Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 It means " You are not one of us. You don´t understand and we don´t expect it." Even in one´s own language, some people can´t read in between the lines. Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Sounds like the boss is a dick and doesn't know how to ask/tell people to do things. Link to post Share on other sites
IIIII 2 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Definitely. Actually the other day I noticed myself being rather vague on purpose when I spoke Japanese to someone. I was trying to get out of going to an enkai and it worked. It can come in handy. Link to post Share on other sites
JellyBelly 1 Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 It means " You are not one of us. You don´t understand and we don´t expect it." Even in one´s own language, some people can´t read in between the lines. While I disagree with your general implication here, in this case yes he is a bit like that and probably thinks like that. He's that type, I'm sure we all know them. I can almost always 'read between the lines' and take a good guess at what is needed, but that's not really a good way to go about doing work is it? What happens if I 'guess wrong'? Link to post Share on other sites
2pints-mate 0 Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Talking to someone in what is a foreign language to the is the time to especially be clear. Sounds like a fool. Link to post Share on other sites
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