日本人は、バリバリ 「久しぶり！」を言うと思わない？英語では、Long time no see! と言うけど、日本語の 「久しぶり」 ほどは言わないような気がする。何故？まあ、ふたつの可能性がある。一つ目は、シャイな日本人は、滅多に友達や知り合いと会わないことだ。やけん、永遠に 「久しぶり」 を言ってるって感じ。一方で、あのバリフレンドリーな民族、アメリカ人は、ずっと友達に会ってるけん、Long time no see! を言う必要はない。これは面白い解釈なんやけど、バカだ。笑笑。
Don't you think that the Japanese say the word hisashiburi A lot? In English we sometimes see long time no see but I just get the feeling we don't say it nearly as much as the Japanese say hisashiburi. Why is that? Well there are two possibilities. First, those shy Japanese rarely see their friends and acquaintances, so when they do, they are endlessly saying hisashiburi!! On the other hand, those wily and friendly Americans see their friends all the time, and so they have no need to ever say long time no see. This is a great theory, but very ridiculous.
じゃ、何故？私は、よう考えたら、Long time no see よりHey! how have you been? や How's life? の方が言うと思う。目上の人なら、It's been a whileと言う。考えたら、Long time no seeみたいに、実際にあまり使わない表現はたくさんある。例えば、全国の日本人は、日本語の 「まぁまぁ」 を so-soと訳するけど、残念ながら、so-soをあまり言わない。間違えてはいないけど、普通に言わない。それより、It's okayとI'm okayを言う。
Well then, what's the other possibility? As I thought about it, in America we don't say "long time no see" as much as we say things like, "Hey, how have you been?" or "How's life?" If you want to speak more formally, you would say, "It's been a while." There are lots of different expressions like this. For example, 99.9% of all Japanese people probably think that the Japanese word maamaa is translated so-so. I hate to break it to them, but we don't say that all that much. It's not that it's wrong grammar anything, we just tend to say, "It's okay," or "I'm okay," a whole lot more.
「あれは、美味しい？」
「まぁまぁ」
"It is good?"
"It's okay."
とにかく、今日話したいことは、「久しぶりに」 についてです。これは、バリ便利な、よく使う表現だ。ちなみに、関係ないけど、最近の好きな日本語は、成し遂げるだ。永遠に言える。成し遂げる。成し遂げたい。成し遂げた。成し遂げようとしている。成し遂げたくてたまらんバイ！ああ、単語が好きだ。
Anyway, what I want to talk about today is the Japanese phrase hisashiburi ni. This is a great phrase that can be used all the time. By the way this has nothing to do with anything, but my favorite Japanese word these days is nashitogeru. I could say it forever. Nashitogeru. Nashitogetai. Nashitogeta. Nashitogeyou to shiteiru. Nashitogetakute tamaran bai! Man, I sure do love language!
ゴメン。話は脱線した。閑話休題。名詞の「久しぶり」 を副詞の「久しぶりに」、に変えたかったら、一つの字だけを加える。あると簡単に立派な副詞になる。けど、英語のLong time no seeはバリバリ変更せんないかん。行くよ！めっちゃ長いバイ！日本語の「久しぶりに」を英語で言いたい時に、
For the first time in a long time
を言わないかん。不便くない？なんで、このバカに長いフレーズになると？知らん。母国語が難しすぎて、申し訳ない。とにかく、例文を見てみよう。
Sorry for that tangent. It only takes one letter to turn hisashiburi into the adverb hisashiburi ni. But you have no such luck with the English "long time no see." Are you ready? It's super long! When you want to say the Japanese hisashiburi ni in English, you have to say: For the first time in a long time.
Geez what a huge pain in the neck! Why does it turn into such a long phrase? No idea. I apologize for the ridiculous difficulty of my native tongue. Anyway, let's look at some example sentences.
I played basketball for the first time in a long time yesterday, so I'm super sore today.
昨日、久しぶりにバスケをやったけん、今日はめっちゃ筋肉痛やん！
I saw her yesterday for the first time in a long time. She's a knockout!"
昨日、久しぶりに彼女に会った。バリ綺麗やった！
2つの似ている言い方がある。
There are a couple of similar expressions.
"Geez, I haven't played basketball in forever. I'm so sore!"
ずっとバスケをやってないけん、バリ筋肉痛だ。
*"I haven't/hadn't seen her in a long time! She looks awesome."
昨日久しぶりに彼女に会った。バリ綺麗やった！
文法的に、hadn'tが当てるけど、haven'tを言う人もいる。やけん、どっちでもいい。
ニュアンスはほぼ一緒だ。入れ替えて使っていいと思うっちゃ。
The nuance of these expressions is almost the same.
じゃ、復習しよう！
So let's review!!
久しぶりに英語を話した。何も覚えていない。ヤバイ！
I spoke English for the first time in forever!!! I don't even remember anything! Yikes!
I spoke English for the first time in a long time. I don't remember anything! Yikes!
I hadn't spoken English in forever! I dont remember anything! Yikes!
頑張って！アンちゃんもわからん日本語が山ほどあるけん、死ぬまで勉強するバイ！いろいろ、成し遂げよう！
You can do it! There's a ton of Japanese that I don't know yet and so I'm going to study Japanese until I die.
* 成し遂げるは、英語で、accomplish, finish, completeといいますが、ここで使うとバリ変な感じがする。やけん、使わん。笑笑。