挨拶. Reciprocal verbal exchanges like "hello". Includes slang, colloquial, dialectal, and differing politeness levels.
Questions tagged [greetings]
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Does 左様なら (sayōnara) have Chinese roots?
A related question: What does さようなら (左様なら) have to do with "left"?
The English-language A.Word.A.Day list this week is doing a "Words borrowed from Japanese" theme; today's word was sayonara. The etymology cited there says:
From Japanese sayonara…
MichaelChirico
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What's the difference between ようこそ and いらっしゃいませ?
Both "ようこそ" (yōkoso) and "いらっしゃいませ" (irasshaimase) seem to mean "welcome" but what are the precise circumstances under which each should be used?
"いらっしゃいませ" (irasshaimase) is uttered in unison by all the staff whenever you walk into a restaurant…
hippietrail
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Which is correct: こんばんわ or こんばんは?
I've seen both こんばんわ and こんばんは used; which is correct here? If we interpret the は as the topic particle, は would seem correct, but it seems that わ is used quite frequently anyway...
bdonlan
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What does さようなら (左様なら) have to do with "left"?
What is the relationship between 左様なら and 左? I assume there's some idiomatic meaning for "left" but how does it fit?
mmdanziger
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Appropriate ただいま-like greeting for a neighbor?
I frequently pass by an elderly neighbor who lives in the same apartment when coming home from a dog walk. He's kind of an in-house carpenter for the building and is frequently seen around the garage. I usually just nod to him with a small murmur…
ento
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How should I start an email when requesting something from someone I don't know well?
In English, there is a certain etiquette to follow when writing a business letter. From what I've seen so far, the same seems to be true in Japanese as well.
If I was making a business-related request to someone who has helped me a lot in the past,…
Troyen
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At work, when is it not ok to finish an email with どうぞよろしくお願いします?
Whenever I communicate with my Japanese coworkers, I always finish my emails with どうぞよろしくお願いします。I guess in the context of an email in English it could be akin to saying "Cheers" "Regards", so I unless I write どうぞよろしくお願いします, I will be worrying that I…
wallyqs
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Usage of 「ごめんください」
In all the anime and j-drama I have watched all these years, as far as I can remember, the only scenario where the greeting 「ごめんください」 is used is when the characters are in front of an ajar or open door of a house calling the residents out, like…
Lukman
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Is はじめまして only suitable for the first contact?
When I'm contacting a colleague for the first time and we're communicating online, I can use はじめまして as part of my greeting. Likewise, if I'm meeting someone for the first time and it is an in-person meeting, I can say はじめまして during my…
Troyen
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Greeting for meeting a friend by chance
How can I greet a person in a manner similar to "Nice to find you in here!" (— meaning meeting a friend by chance somewhere)?
Siegfried
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Which kanji to use for saying ありがとうございます in emails?
When sending emails, I've noticed that Japanese colleagues use all sorts of kanji/kana combinations for the simple phrases ありがとうございました and よろしくおねがいいたします.
For…
crunchyt
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Ways to end a phone conversation
Despite its being one of the most basic element of daily-life Japanese, I often find myself looking for a proper way to end certain phone conversations.
Of course, I know the standard: [それでは]失礼します, or: よろしく[お願いします]...
But somehow, neither of these…
Dave
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Meaning of ちはース
Context: a boy shouts 「ちはース」 after seeing that a fan club for a boxer has only female members. He is happy to discover this since he is the kind of guy that always tries to flirt with pretty girls.
I understand that this is an exclamation expressing…
Marco
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When is it appropriate to use ごくろうさま?
I've seen お疲れさま and ご[苦労]{くろう}さま used to say "Thank you" after some had done work of some type. After reading the お疲れさま thread, I realize that the two are not interchangeable. So when do you use ご[苦労]{くろう}さま?
When is it appropriate to use…
dotnetN00b
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こんにちは and こんばんは only once a day per person?
I recently saw a video on greetings in Japan and the guy said something that I've never heard before: "you cannot use こんにちは more then once per day to the same person". He proceeded to explain that if you meet the same person again later in the same…
saidy
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