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カジテツ

“職業:家事手伝い”を訳す。



イヤ、そりゃ
『職』でも『業』でもないのかもしれないけど。
せっかく職業欄に書き入れてくださったのだし
これも日本の文化のひとつだなぁと思って
ちゃんとニュアンスを伝えたくなった。

で、こんなやりとりを。

emi: ... and her job is, um, "domestic helper." – it's a fancy term for
unemployed, typically for unemployed single women.

H: That’s really odd – unemployed is "domestic helper." How absolutely
polite and Japanese.

emi: I know. Actually, there are several different versions of Japanese
unemployed, but I think "domestic helper" is extremely well done as a term.
It's got such a positive connotation. I think it's a beautiful example of the
art of Japanese language.

H: That's interesting.

emi: Among my mother's generation, "trainee in homemaking" was
popular, but not anymore. I remember a unisex term "parasite single"
was introduced a decade ago, but I am not sure if it's still used.
Because those young folks won't appreciate it, you know. "Neet" is the
other one. Unlike those negative terms, "domestic helper" sounds kinda
nice and is, well, socially acceptable I would say. In fact some women are
happy to call themselves "domestic helper."

H: Well I guess unemployed does not mean "broke" in Japan.

emi: Good point! A "domestic helper" should have money as long as she
has someone to, um, help domestically. In other words, one has to live at
home with her parents to be a "domestic helper." And the greatest thing
is that she has freedom as well because the help is not usually an urgent
business.

by emi_blog | 2008-11-08 19:29 | 英語 | Comments(0)  

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