Departments
Beating Around the Bush
Westerners, and especially Americans, often complain that the Japanese favor overly vague methods of communication. The classic example is the chestnut about the Japanese businessman who looks his American counterpart in the face and says,
Chotto muzukashii desu.
ちょっと難しいです。
Of course, the actual meaning behind the statement is much more dire than the literal translation ("It's a bit difficult") would suggest. When a Japanese says chotto muzukashii, he or she is actually indicating that the other party's proposal is "out of the question".
The Japanese arts of vagueness include other methods of gracefully letting a person down. Two of the most commonly used phrases are:
Yarudake yatte mimasu.
やるだけやって見ます。
and
Zensho shimasu.
善処します。
Either of the above phrases might translate into English as, "I'll get around to it". Yarudake yatte mimasu and zensho shimasu prepare the listener for the inevitable letdown.
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Have you ever "gotten the runaround"? If you wish to convey this idea in Japanese, the expression you will need is ii-nogare 言い逃れ:
Tanaka-kun ni kiite mita ga, ii-nogare o kuimashita.
田中君に聞いてみたが、言い逃れを食いました。
"I asked Tanaka, but I got the runaround."
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Below are a few more gems that describe evasiveness:
toomawashi na iikata o suru / 遠回しな言い方をする/ "to beat around the bush; to mince words"
o-cha o nigosu / お茶を濁す / "to be evasive"
nama-henji / 生返事 / "a noncommittal answer"
Sono toomawashi na iikata de hontoo no imi ga tsuujinai.
その遠回しな言い方で本当の意味が通じない.
"Your true meaning doesn't come across with that vague way you have of expressing things."