Was watching an episode of Magnum PI yesterday and there was a Japanese guy on there who kept calling him “Magnumson”. I always thought this was a stereotype from the Karate Kid movies and that they didn’t actually say that. Do they? I know Magnum PI wasn’t top quality but wasn’t isn’t a cheap show either. If they do say that, why?
OblongSon
Oblong-san,
My understanding (and I may be way off on this - I don’t speak the language) is that ‘-san’ is a term of respect, kind of like using ‘Mr.’ or ‘Mrs.’ It’s considered insulting to omit it when speaking.
There are other suffixes like ‘-chan’ (used only for people one is extremely familiar with – a mother may use this when speaking to her child or a man when speaking to his wife) and, I believe, ‘-sama’, which is used when speaking to a person of higher station.
bauble
I always thought that the “San” thing was just a sign of respect. similar to us using Mister or missus. But then again…it could be some form of ancient cursing…and they’re all playing a joke on us! calling me “Adolph San”…and they’re actually saying “Adolph you fat fag!”
bauble is right on about this one. It’s an honorific, and should be used in most situations when addressing people. You can omit it if you’re speaking to someone you’ve known for a long time and know very well, or use -chan as an affectionate diminutive to a child you know well.
One caveat: You never use -san when referring to yourself. So, a conversation with a collegue you’ve heard about would go like this.
You: Ohayo gozaimasu! Shitsurei desu ga, Simisu san desu ka? (Good morning! Excuse me, but are you Mr. Smith?)
John Smith: Ohayo gozaimasu! Hai, Simisu desu. Oblong san desu ka? (Good morning! Yes, I am Smith. Are you Mr. Oblong?)
Or something like that. 
I’m having Japanese class flashbacks now. Thanks Necros 
hijack
Necros,
I think we had the same Japanese Textbook: Yookoso!
end hijack
The others are correct. I really have nothing to add.
Wow, I had no idea. I always thought it was degrading or making fun to say “san” (not son). So when I go to my favorite Japanese steakhouse and say “san” they won’t think I’m insulting them.
Thanks
Another accepted suffix is “-kun”, used only among close friends to refer to one another. I’ve never heard “-kun” used with a woman’s name, although it wouldn’t surprise me if it was acceptable these days, as fast as that language changes.
Whenever one of us screwed up and used “-san” after our own name in Japanese class, our teacher got the giggles. The best explanation she could give us was, “It just sounds funny.” So, don’t use it after your own name; it’s apparently very strange to Japanese ears.
And make sure you don’t add a “-T” to the end of “kan”. That could get you slapped.
Don’t forget -domo, Lord. Is this still used for anything except costume dramas? And maybe S&M games, I think I heard it once or twice in Tokyo Decadance . . .
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“Jo-sama, Jo-sama!”
Well, it can be used that way by an english speaker, in the same way that slaping “herr” in front of a german guys name can be a vague insult.
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When I was teaching English in Japan, I learned it this way:
***-chan: Use this for a girl (pre-puberty), a boy under three or so, or a pet.
***-kun: Use this for a boy from threeish until puberty-ish. A man in a position of authority may call any man (or boy) under him ***-kun, although my boss discouraged me from using it on the teen boys in my class unless they were acting up.
***-san: Catch-all term for just about everybody else.
***-sama: Used for people in positions of high authority (such as the president of the company). Also used to indicate diety or supremacy. “Kame-sama” = the turtle god.
[funny story and slight hijack] My boss was trying to teach a class of Japanese some pretty basic stuff about Christianity. Being new to Japanese, he fouled up some of the vowel sounds and wound up making a fool of himself. What he meant to say was: “Kami-sama wa, ningen o, ai shimasu.” Which means “God loves everybody.” What he actually said was “Kame-sama wa, ninjin o, ai shimasu,” which means “The Almighty Turtle loves carrots.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I wouldn’t laugh if I were you. You wouldn’t want to upset the Almighty Turtle.
Well I do not know about Japanese but I think it is pretty rude for anyone in English to refer to himself as Mr. so-and-so. Mr Sailor is what other would call me but I would identify myself a Joe Sailor.
Oh, man, that’s rich…and a good lesson, too. Vowels in Japanese are double-plus important, and ya gotta be careful. You carry that “i” out too long at the end, and you’ve just told the new mother that her baby is “scary” instead of “cute”. hehe
I’ve heard that when you refer to your teacher, rather than san, you use sensei (like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).
And Necros, what does “Shitsurei desu ga” mean literally?
“Sensei” is literally “born before” and is a term of respect used for teachers or other respected people, especially doctors. IIRC “Tomo” is a slightly archaic title of great respect. I can’t recall having ever heard it actually used outside a textbook in my 9 1/2 years here.
“Shitsurei” is literally “rude” and “desu” is “is”. “Ga” is what is known as a post position or particle, and has no equivilant in English. Particles serve various grammatical functions. Ga, wa, and wo (pronounced o) serve to mark subjects and objects, and are loosly and remotly related to articles in English (a, the, an). So “shitsurei desu ga” is literally “rude is” or more loosly “it is rude of me”.
[adding to rastahomie’s hijack] I mad a very similar mistake with ningen several years ago. Talking about some of the negative experiences with racism I’ve had here, I said “watashi mo ninjin desu, yo!”. My freind burst out laughing and tried to tell me I wasn’t a ninjin, but I insisted I was. She then pointed out that I didn’t have orange skin and green hair, and I rtealized I had said “I’m a carrot too!” and not the intended “I’m a person too!”.