Heartwarming Japanese, Part 2

“Does this fish not have any moles?” (“Kono sakana wa, hokuro, nai no?”)

Following on the mix-up of “uroko” and “hokuro” from last time, I’d like to share another humorous instance of a Japanese mistake made by a non-native speaker.

One day, as we walked by a restaurant that had suffered a fire in the past, they asked,

“Is this the restaurant that got burned before?” (“Kono mise, mae ni yakedo shita mise?”)

I really wanted to compliment them on coming up with that.

I’m sure that’s not what they intended, but

hearing a phrase with such imagination, or rather creativity,

put a smile on my face that would last all day.

Phrases like that are something that native Japanese speakers couldn’t come up with even if they tried.

See you next time!