62 - You have ketchup on your face.
I don't have the best memory in the world...
...for some things.
My mom calls it, "You never listen!"
But it's hard to pay attention to what everyone's saying... and remember what they said.
2 things?!
Madness!
Well, my memory and listening span goes down about 48% in Japanese.
My brain is so focused on understanding what's being said that no brainpower goes into storing what's being heard.
That's my scientific theory, at least.
I'll tell you why I brought this up later.
For now...
Fancy Lesson Topic
I will give you 3 different tricky situations.
Your task is to guess what Japanese phrase or phrases would be most appropriate.
Begin!
Situation #1
You're at a coffee shop in Tokyo, being a dufus.
As such, you inadvertently spill hot coffee all over a beautiful businesswoman's clothes, papers, and hair.
In a feeble attempt to avoid being brutally murdered, you want to say something along the lines of...
"I'm so sorry. Are you all right?!"
How do you say this in Japanese?!?!?
❈ Begin Scrolling / Thinking Space ❈
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❈ Answer ❈
You could say...
ごめんなさい！大丈夫ですか？
gomennasai! daijoubu desu ka?
I'm so sorry! Are you all right?
(Literally: "Sorry! + OK + is + か?")
(Note: Be careful to NOT use the more casual, shortened version ごめん [gomen] in this situation, because you won't sound very sorry at all... especially not to a stranger you don't know after doing something pretty bad like spilling coffee.)
Anyways, that's what she'd say if she were nice.
Or she might kill you.
I don't know.
Moving on, then...
Situation #2
You're at a party with a bunch of friends.
Everyone went around introducing themselves at first.
Since it was all in Japanese, your brain dumped all of those names and words into Gibberish Land.
So now you're sitting next to someone, and you have no idea what their name is. (← Story of my life.)
You want so say something like...
"Could you tell me your name again?"
OR
"What was your name again?"
In Japanese that's...?
❈ Begin Scrolling / Thinking Space ❈
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❈ Answer ❈
You could say...
もう一回名前聞いてもいい？
mou ikkai namae kiitemo ii?
Could you tell me your name again?
(Literally: "already + one time + name + even ask + good?")
(Note: Maybe in a classroom, they'd say もう一回名前を聞いてもいいですか... but we can drop off the particle を and the ですか, because we're at a party and don't need to be too formal.)
OK, maybe that's too short to be of much use. Some other time!
Situation #3
You're on a first date with an amazing-looking candidate for the currently vacant "Light of My Life" position.
Annnnnnd, they have ketchup smeared on their forehead.
You gotta tell them.
If they go to the bathroom and notice it there, they might hate you forever.
So how do we say...
"You have ketchup on your face."
Start thinking... Now!
❈ Begin Scrolling / Thinking Space ❈
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❈ Answer ❈
You could say...
顔にケチャップついてるよ。
kao ni kechappu tsuiteru yo.
You have ketchup on your face.
(Literally: "face + に + ketchup + stuck to + よ.)
(Note: As you progress with Japanese, you'll find that つく, "to be stuck to" means a million things. And it's also what we say when ketchup is on someone's face. By the way, I had no idea how to write ケチャップ without Rei's help. I think I need to work on my Katakana English.)
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