What nuance does "ですな" bring?

Question

I often see ですな used in social text posts.
Examples:

こんにちわ、あついし、ひまですな。

いいてんきですなｗ

A Google search for "ですな" does not show me any explanation.

Here is how I understand ですな in such context:

Humourously "aristocrat"-sounding.
Auto-derision of fake deepness.

Am I getting it right?

Why would someone use "ですな" rather than not use it?
What nuance does it give to the sentence?

ある大正時期の小説で、外国人の貴族は「ですな」をよく言っています。 — ネーム, Mar 12 '17 at 14:09

Earthliŋ · Answer 1 · 2012-09-17T02:52:00.990

9

ですな is a version of ですね and is decidedly masculine speech for males over 40 (would go well with わし, for example, but can be used on the internet as a joke by anyone, of course).

There is also

いい天気ですの

or, even better,

いい天気じゃの

which is even stronger than ですな in the sense that it would really only be used by males over 60.

The ageless equivalent is ですね in all cases.

P.S.: ～ますな has the same nuance as ～ですな, whereas plain form + な is decidedly less restrictive. 食べたいな, 面倒くさいなぁ, よく食べるな, etc. can be used by anyone, regardless of gender or age.

edited Sep 17 '12 at 02:52

answered Sep 14 '12 at 05:01

Earthliŋ

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So my understanding was totally wrong I guess... – Nicolas Raoul Sep 14 '12 at 05:03
Well "Aristocrat-sounding" is not that far off, e.g. 最近株も下がって大変ですな ;) – Earthliŋ Sep 14 '12 at 05:05
over 40?? I hear/say things like "上手だな" almost every day, by males way under 40… – Axioplase Sep 14 '12 at 06:26
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だな, yes, but ですな? – Earthliŋ Sep 14 '12 at 06:26
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＠user1205935: Sorry but I assume いい天気ですの & いい天気じゃの are also speech used by men >40 but what are their "normal" equivalents? – Tim Sep 14 '12 at 08:20
@Tim Yes, indeed. ですの (and じゃの) are an even more extreme version of ですな, maybe for men over 60. The ageless version is ですね, of course. Added this in the main text. – Earthliŋ Sep 14 '12 at 08:36
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@user1205935: well, if one can say だ, one can say です, no? – Axioplase Sep 18 '12 at 06:15
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@Axioplase Sure, grammatically one is just the polite version of the other. Still, the nuance of だな is different from the nuance of ですな... – Earthliŋ Sep 18 '12 at 06:44

What nuance does "ですな" bring?

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