# Does the Idea of a Corporate "Yes man" translate into Japanese? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 19, 2007, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-idea-of-a-corporate-yes-man-translate-into-japanese/400754 "2007-04-19T05:52:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-idea-of-a-corporate-yes-man-translate-into-japanese/400754/1 "2007-04-19T05:52:44Z")
Is there a term that is similar or equal to that of a corporate Yes Man, in Japanese? ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-idea-of-a-corporate-yes-man-translate-into-japanese/400754/2 "2007-04-19T06:24:31Z")
[QUOTE=Meeko] Is there a term that is similar or equal to that of a corporate Yes Man, in Japanese? [/QUOTE] Yes, the term is “Corporate Employee” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-idea-of-a-corporate-yes-man-translate-into-japanese/400754/3 "2007-04-19T12:08:11Z")
Doing a Google Japan search, it looks like Japanese stole the English phrase. “Iesuman” would be the romanized version of the Japanese spelling. The dictionary definition doesn’t offer any sort of Japanese word as a synonym. There’s only 160,000 results from Google from it, though, which seems a tad low. So probably you’ll find a decent percentage of people who haven’t heard it, but they shouldn’t have any problem looking it up. > **[イエスマン（いえすまん） - 日本語俗語辞書](http://zokugo-dict.com/02i/yesman.htm)** > > イエスマン（いえすまん）の意味・関連語を解説。 ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-idea-of-a-corporate-yes-man-translate-into-japanese/400754/4 "2007-04-19T13:21:23Z")
Japanese use the English words Yes Man, as spelled by **Sage Rate**. Business people know and use this term. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-idea-of-a-corporate-yes-man-translate-into-japanese/400754/5 "2007-04-19T20:58:06Z")
[QUOTE=TokyoPlayer] Japanese use the English words Yes Man, as spelled by **Sage Rate**. [/QUOTE] Sage Rate? That’s not the guy we were drinking with, right? :dubious: As somebody and **TokyoPlayer** point out, it is a well known term. And, contrary to **Shamozzle** ’s insinuation, it’s by no means the usual stance. There’s a huge difference between not speaking out against a senior and being a “yes-man.” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-idea-of-a-corporate-yes-man-translate-into-japanese/400754/6 "2007-04-20T01:14:52Z")
[QUOTE=Cerowyn] Sage Rate? That’s not the guy we were drinking with, right? :dubious: [/QUOTE] That was me (with the ponytail), though I don’t drink. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-idea-of-a-corporate-yes-man-translate-into-japanese/400754/7 "2007-04-20T03:06:44Z")
**Sage Rat** :smack: Sorry, got the extra “e” in. :smack: Not speaking out against seniors is quite common, but being a Yes Man is looked down on. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-idea-of-a-corporate-yes-man-translate-into-japanese/400754/8 "2007-04-20T03:23:00Z")
I think the correct term is sha-in: 社員. Or maybe I’m just getting cynical about my more slap-headed clients. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-idea-of-a-corporate-yes-man-translate-into-japanese/400754/9 "2007-04-20T04:13:42Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] That was me (with the ponytail), though I don’t drink. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Well, the _rest_ of us were drinking. Quite a lot, as I recall. [/hijack]