So-So Japanese

If you were a little bit familiar with Japanese, you must know a word "Suimasen". This word can be also used to call waiter at restraint or shop etc. This is very useful word.

Do you know the exactly meaning of "Suimasen"?

"Excuse me"?

Yes, very close and it is frequently used as the meaning. When people A hit man B on the road, A says "Suimasen" and B says "Suimaesn" (This is also Japanese style. I will write about it).

"I am sorry"?

Yes, this is very correct.

I wrote that "Suimasen" can be used to call waiter at restraint, but originally it was like saying, "I am sorry" to waiter doing nothing wrong. So some older Japanese hate to say that.

Thank you

For example, when we get gift from someone, we can say "Sumimasen" to express "Thank you". Or when we fall down and someone helps us, we can say "Suimasen, Tasukarimashita (You help me)".

Maybe it started to say "I am sorry to let you spend money/effort for me".

When I took international flight, there was a movie on my sheet. I noticed that one of channel was "Samurai" story with English subtitle. In the movie, when woman was helped by a Samurai', the woman said to him "Suimasen", and the subtitle was "Thank you".

It was very impressive for me.