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Gaijin talk
From gaijin diaries:
HolIgor: In most slavic languages the name for Germans is a derivative of the world "deaf" (Nimets, Nemec, Niemets etc), a person who cannot speak. But I did not hear any complains from the Germans. Such things happen historically and should be considered as historical anecdotes. Sebastian: Well, this is an interesting story about how nations have their way of restoring their pride. The story we were told has to do with prisoners. Back in the dark age, it used to be the custom that the Russian dukes exchanged POWs for ransom. (Strangely, it didn't mention what happened to the POWs the Germans took, if there were any.) Until one day the Tsar issued an ukaz to retain the craftsmen who had skills necessary for the country and settle them in a suburb of Moscow. Since they didn't understand Russian, they became known as the people who не уметь. I always wondered what the word for Germans was before that ... -- 2003-09-11 Tamsin: It's one thing being called "Gaijin-san" by a friendly Japanese person, but I suppose it's understandable to be annoyed if people mutter "gaijin!" quietly behind your back or are otherwise clearly talking about you and not to you (as in Will Ferguson's Hokkaido Highway Blues). On neither of the occasions I have visited Japan did I hear anybody refer to me in a derogatory way as a gaijin; the word was only ever used as a friendly address. And the only people who looked at me as though I came from a different planet were little children, and they do that the world over, don't they? In my experience Japan gives foreigners a much warmer welcome than do many countries, including my own, and if being called a "gaijin" is the worst one might have to face, then that's to Japan's credit, ne? Andrew Grant: I have seen Japanese-English dictionaries / phrasebooks where "gaijin" is translated as "foreigner" without comment and "gaikokujin" is either not given at all or just given as an alternative with no implication that this is to be preferred. I think that if "gaijin" was ever considered at all rude it isn't any more. The social acceptability of words changes over time in all languages. kokiri IIRC a rugby team by the name of the Tokyo Gaijin got in trouble with the local rugby authorities a couple of years ago.The powers that be took the view that the name was racist because it made japanese feel unwelcome to join the team. This despite the fact that about half the team were japanese, anyway. I think that the process of a minority taking a word of abuse and making it it's own is not limited to Gaijin. This is a copy of the living page "Gaijin talk" at Sensei's Library. ![]() |