Friday, December 2, 2011

How to say Goodbye in Japanese

Years and years ago, I visited Mahabalipuram with my parents.  We ran into a guide there who claimed to be able to say 'goodbye' in 10 different languages.  It was no mean feat, considering that in those days (early 70s) there were not as many tourists as there are in these days.  He rattled off the word in various languages, I managed to recognize one, Sayonara.  That was because of this song from Love in Tokyo.



The word Sayonara is so lyrical and sweet, it slips off your tongue like syrup.  Imagine the same scene in Germany with Asha Parekh singing:

Auf weidersehen, auf weidersehen, vada nibhaongi, auf weidersehen,
ithlati aur balkhati, kal phir aaongi auf weidersehen.

Doesn't work eh?

11 comments:

  1. Yes Definitely thats true, these days i am learning bit of chinese,.. Zai Jin... is how they say it . if i am pronouncing it right.

    and of-course the song is too sweet.

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  2. The world is shrinking, and it helps to know foreign languages.

    The song is awesome sweet.

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  3. hehehehe.....I am so bad at learning languages that will stick to bye only :)

    And yes that song is darn good :)

    How have u been?

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  4. Haha...good one! :-) Actually I am able to imagine this song with "auf wiedersehen" also - and it sounds just as sweet. Or maybe that's just me! ;-)

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  5. Smee, am good. kabhi alvida na kehna ;)

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  6. Raja, you can try substituting other goodbyes also, Dasvedania, for instance.

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  7. I agree with raja, auf wiedersehen works as well, but as you said, not so good as with sayonara. :-)

    Sayonara is four syllable word and ends with a vowell and thus fits the metre quite well.

    Reminds me of milti hai zindagi me mohabbat kabhi kabhi
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMGjDYM1tbc

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  8. Oops, some sentences seemed to have disappeared from my comment above. The missing part:

    Sayonara is four syllable word and ends with a vowel and thus fits the metre quite well. Adios or Ari viderci wouldn't have fit in quite well.

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  9. Try singing is guys!

    Harv..its the way Sayonara just trips off your tongue that makes it so good.

    I like milti hai zindagi as well.

    I also like the way Indians land up in a foreign country and everyone seems to be able to speak hindi, esp the police.

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  10. how about desvidania =sayonara

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  11. Try singing it Oz.

    Dasvedania, Dasvedania
    vada nibhaongi dasvedania
    ithlati aur balkhati
    kal phir aaongi dasvedania

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