[non-sumo by now] RE: [sumo] Re: How to translate "no"

[Doreen Simmons]

In Jeff's case, the problem would probably be in the way he issued the 
invitation. If the other person feels that he can't wriggle out of it 
without causing offense, he is likely to go along.

We shouldn't feel too bad about this sort of thing, since our Japanese 
friends do much the same thing to us -- although in this case there is the 
underlying assumption that we have nothing else to do. They arrange big 
parties in our honor, never bothering to check our schedule. This happened 
a lot when I was in language school. One typical case was the big class 
party arranged for December 25th. When the students  finally told their 
teacher of the treat in store, she said, ""Oh, I'm sorry! I can't make it!" 
-- whereupon they assured her "It's all right -- it's Christmas day and you 
will be on holiday." "Yes, but I'll be on holiday in Bali" she answered, 
top their absolute consternation.

FWIW. Now, back to sumo!

>In this scenario, how could one have known that Yuji didn't actually want 
>to go to the game?  Is it just body language analysis, or would Yuji have 
>said something else other than 'hai' (or 'yes' if the conversation was in 
>English) if he _actually_ wanted to go to the game?
Doreen Simmons
<jz8d-smmn at asahi-net.or.jp>