Choose you words wisely!

Höflichkeitssprache in Japan. Mit viel Mühe zu erlernen, aber noch viel schwerer anzuwenden. Was passiert, wenn man sich mal in der Anrede vergreift, sagen wir, wenn man einfach mal das -san als Suffix hinter dem Nachnamen vergisst? Wird schon nicht so schlimm sein so ein Fehler... Oder etwa doch?

"Mistakes have been deadly. In 1975, two workers, Kunihiro Fukuda, 30, and Tomohiko Okabe, 27, were having a drink in a Tokyo bar, according to magazine reports at the time. Although Mr. Okabe was younger, he had entered the company first and had taken to addressing his colleague in a manner usually reserved for someone younger, calling him Fukuda instead of Fukuda-san. Mr. Fukuda protested. But Mr. Okabe said, "What's wrong if a senior guy calls his junior in this way?" Enraged, Mr. Fukuda grabbed his colleague by the neck and beat him to death, the magazines reported."

Autsch.

Der ganze Artikel findet sich hier.

Posted by Matt at 2003年10月31日 11:31