tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post7133448711123008929..comments2009-07-10T16:39:52.400+09:00Comments on The Monster Flower: ProfanityUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post-61605817125743282202008-06-21T07:35:00.000+09:002008-06-21T07:35:00.000+09:00I don't know whether it is truly naughty in meanin...I don't know whether it is truly naughty in meaning or not, but the one word I remember most from my unsanctioned, off-the-cuff Japanese lessons is pronounced "shimata".<BR/><BR/>This is supposed to mean "sh*t" I guess.<BR/><BR/>For some reason, it has become rote for me over the years to say this where the English equivalent would normally be used. I don't know why it has become so ingrained as I only worked for the company that farmed me out to the Japanese company for about a year. And that was almost six years ago.badmoodguy (Бадмўдгуи)https://www.blogger.com/profile/00737755278975395898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post-69878195128988507142008-06-20T17:29:00.000+09:002008-06-20T17:29:00.000+09:00I agree that teaching profanity is not a good idea...I agree that teaching profanity is not a good idea. However, I used to teach a high level discussion class about cultural taboos and one of the main themes was that you could learn a lot about a culture by looking at their bad language. <BR/><BR/>Most taboo words spawn from things considered taboo in the culture, as you know. E.G. sex and bodily functions in North American/English culture, religion in French, and otherness,handicapness or difference in Japanese culture. I was able to encourage Japanese students to reflect on their own cultural taboos and teach the F word at the same time. :-PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post-32164475814767461062008-06-20T03:00:00.000+09:002008-06-20T03:00:00.000+09:00I teach my Japanese conversation partners (adult, ...I teach my Japanese conversation partners (adult, married women) what "naughty" words mean so that they can understand them if they hear them, but caution them not to use them because of the context/association problem.<BR/><BR/>My dictionary, for example, gives "shoshi" (庶子) as the translation of "bastard" meaning, "a child born out of wedlock." I suspect without knowing that calling somebody a shoshi (if it is even in common usage; my dictionary doesn't help me there) has a very different meaning than calling him "you dirty bastard!" or even "you silly bastard" when "the impact changes dramatically with the modifier. <BR/><BR/>It seems, when I think about it, that maybe more than with most words, context and modifiers change the meaning of profanity. While there is a core meaning, that can be entirely lost in a given situation. Good luck!<BR/><BR/>WallyWally Woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17653591053915868274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post-37021829722963098102008-06-19T15:49:00.000+09:002008-06-19T15:49:00.000+09:00I'm actually very concerned about her being amongs...I'm actually very concerned about her being amongst the "wolves" in more ways than one. I'm worried that she won't understand the predatory behavior of Western males and I'm worried that she'll be made fun of for being clueless. <BR/><BR/>Obviously, I hope she'll be in a supportive environment, and I think there is a chance she might be, but I'd like to give her some idea what people might be laughing or joking about in college.<BR/><BR/>This student is already aware of the Simpsons and she doesn't like it. She thinks the humor is too "mean". Of course, it's got nothing on South Park!Orchid64https://www.blogger.com/profile/07132543155589881288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post-29043509611400953232008-06-19T11:27:00.000+09:002008-06-19T11:27:00.000+09:00Holy crap! I can see why you are torn...naughty wo...Holy crap! I can see why you are torn...naughty words are kind of a funny area all the way around. You certainly don't want to corrupt a young person, to be sure, but since she is getting thrown to the wolves in a foreign college I would think being forewarned is forearmed.<BR/><BR/>If we are to be judged based on the board of fare delivered by Comedy Central, we might as well be doomed! I wish I could provide some insight for you, but I, too, am out of touch...even living close to a rather large university. Some tamer programming would be the likes of Family Guy and the Simpsons, but that would be the limit to what I could recommend.<BR/><BR/>I can understand your views about young teachers teaching naughty words in class. There is a time and place, I would imagine, for teaching some of the colloquial and certainly less well understood parts of a language, that it should be saved for advanced lessons or for those to be exposed to more informal situations. (Or as a reward to good students at the end of a lesson series...to give them a flavor of what we would consider naughty!)<BR/><BR/>In an informal setting, like friends or coworkers, teaching the baser vernacular might be a decent way to get to know the thought process behind how a culture functions. Such as when I was a contractor and would often go to a Japanese company that was a client, several of the engineers and other Japanese personnel would teach me bits and pieces of Japanese language ... some of it naughty words!<BR/><BR/>Suffice to say, though it is fun to find out what would be considered naughty in a culture (and could potentially be helpful to remember what to avoid), much could be lost in translation.badmoodguy (Бадмўдгуи)https://www.blogger.com/profile/00737755278975395898noreply@blogger.com