Alex Ledante
While many of you will be familiar with the Japanese tradition of answering the phone “moshi moshi” few of you know the rationale behind this salutation. This post is dedicated to revealing the rationale behind this custom
For centuries, the shogunate kept the nation in an artificial state of stagnation. Even after the Meiji reformation, the introduction of western technology was met with suspicion born of superstition…
Japanese mythology is filled with tales of shape shifting fox spirits- the kitusne. Their cunning was well established, and led many to woe. While a wary person might see through their ruse by observing their fox tail, this was impossible to determine over a phone, and many refused to use that untrustworthy device until a lorewise obaasan recalled that by tradition, the kitsune were unable to pronounce the word “moshi”
The biblically inclined among you may recall the shibboleth; this is a similar challenge which allowed the cautious Nihonjin to ascertain that they were in fact speaking to a real person, as opposed to a malicious fox spirit
I was delighted to learn the origin of this tradition, and to this day I will often answer the phone by saying “Let me assure you that I definitely am not a fox spirit…” which is the literal (although not brute force) translation of moshi moshi
While this confuses all but the most otaku of my callers, that isn’t a problem for me. I am happy to explain it in much the same way I just did, but am just as happy to leave them confused. Back before caller ID I used to just answer the phone in the traditional Japanese way, so I could continue to speak Nihongo to anyone who I didn’t feel like talking to, but that is another story…
I’m loving your posts. Thanks for tagging them “Japanese”. Made it so easy to find them.
You’re most welcome. If you can come up with other tags that I’m not using that you think I should, feel free to let me know!
She’s not a bunny girl, she’s a fox spirit…
While I’ve done it in the past and will doubtless do it again in the future, that wasn’t the case here
I don’t see how, the bunny girl had nylons and this girl has thigh high boots…
If you’re going to be ambiguous you should count on me to take a literal interpretation, because that is what I do…
If it wasn’t entirely clear, there was a level of ambiguity. I didn’t deliberately misunderstand you…
I didn’t accuse you of deliberate ambiguity, just reminded you that unless I am certain you mean something other than the literal translation, I generally opt for the literal interpretation of any sentence
Too wide is the problem. You’re all over the place… Just be specific
You may mean specific things but you phrase them in general or vague terms
I find that very hard to believe
Your argument seems to be that people can generally guess what you’re talking about, especially when they follow some arbitrary assumption. How can you mistake that for clear communication?
ESL, native speaker, I don’t care. If you don’t know the words then look them up…
if you use a word that I don’t know, rest assured I will look it up. That is how I learn new words…
Yeah, it seems like my posts are playing hide and seek lately…
Nice to know I’m not being singled out
how does transferred meaning apply here?
What a cool response! I like it!
Japanese culture has fascinated me ever since I was a child…
That is so cool Alex. And it gives me ideas to answer the phone when certain people call. 🙂
Care to share? Sounds like a fun post…
I have put it on my list to write about.
Backlog? That’s a problem you want to have…
I have a backlog for sure.
Did you know that Alexander Graham Bell wanted folks to answer the phone “Ahoy-hoy”?
Very interesting piece Alex. And art! I feel a little more educated now. ; )
Did you know that Alexander Graham Bell wanted folks to answer the phone “Ahoy-hoy”?
I did not know that. From that to.. sup…Hi… Please leave a message after the tone..
It never really caught on