rach 1 Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 I saw someone in the post office today that I knew (slightly) a few years back. We weren't friends or anything, but our paths crossed a few times. Anyway, he said ohisashiburi and all that, which I said as well of course with a genki desu ka thrown in. .. but after that it was a bit of an awkward silence. Any of you 'frequently' in Japanese ( ) people, any other good expressions to use in a situation like this to just break a silence. I'm not so good at them .. Link to post Share on other sites
echineko 1 Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 Samui desu ne! Link to post Share on other sites
kintaro 0 Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 With a look of surpise and awe, say "eh, anata wa yaseta ja nai?" Even skinny people like to hear it and it will prompt an explanation as to why they are looking so good. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 天気、天気，天気！！！ Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted October 7, 2004 Author Share Posted October 7, 2004 Yaseta won't work - he must have put on about 10kg since when I knew him and he looked a mess!! Link to post Share on other sites
slow 0 Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 Futori mashita ne... Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted October 7, 2004 Author Share Posted October 7, 2004 actually come to think of it I have heard people tell each other how fat they are! Talk about direct! Thats what gets me about Japanese. Sometimes it is aimai vague to the extreme, the next minute people who have never seen each other for 3 years tell the other they're fat!! Link to post Share on other sites
Davo 1 Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 "Ja mata ne!" Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 お前は太ったんちゃう？その原因はマックを食い 377;ぎに違いないんやろう？ something like eh... thought we could start blaming MacDonalds again... it should say kuisugi but it doesnt do it for some reason... Link to post Share on other sites
happyhappy 0 Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 Or maybe Mos Link to post Share on other sites
HoTRoD 2 Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 Talk about the common friend from way back. And other friends. Ask if they are all genki? Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted October 8, 2004 Author Share Posted October 8, 2004 That sounds like a good one and best suited to the situation. I'll try that next time. I hate awkward silences, I can't cope with them well and usually end up blithering on about some nonsense - in rubbish Japanese too. Link to post Share on other sites
LiquidX 0 Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 I find Japanese are generally quite good at coping with the awkward silence. Just join in the silent fun and ride it out. Link to post Share on other sites
blinkin'ek 0 Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 Just speak some English - that'll quickly get rid of them. Link to post Share on other sites
IceEiji 0 Posted October 12, 2004 Share Posted October 12, 2004 In situation like this many people talk about weather and general thing like that. It's easy to talk about it and not much of a chance of embarrassing. Link to post Share on other sites
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