reintr0ducing Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 what the title says... what does it mean? i've searched google and this site, but nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 THREE-ZERO San = Three Maru = Zero Also Mitsu as in Hitatsu, Futatsu, Mittsu, Yottsu as opposed to Ichi, Ni, San, Shi... Like they say: "There can be several ways of saying the same thing" Yon San Ni would be '432' as in Z432...wakarimasuka? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 ?? OK Tony, now answer this: Who's "they"? LOL. Also: "San Maru, a Korean restaurant on Telegraph at 43rd. St. in Oakland" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 The cumulative "They".... It was always funny to watch guys explain 'Mitsubishi' to other gaijin (not that I'm not one...) as 'see, they made the Zeroes during WWII, and that heritage shows through:see the three spinning propeller blades in their logo!' Of course, Mitsubishi means 'Three Diamonds'---which is what their logo is, and if you ever looked closely at the belts on a Mitsubishi you would see they use Mitsuboshi Belts...the logo on the belts being Three Squares, and Mitsuboshi meaning 'Three Squares'... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PanzerAce Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 The cumulative "They".... It was always funny to watch guys explain 'Mitsubishi' to other gaijin (not that I'm not one...) as 'see, they made the Zeroes during WWII, and that heritage shows through:see the three spinning propeller blades in their logo!' Of course, Mitsubishi means 'Three Diamonds'---which is what their logo is, and if you ever looked closely at the belts on a Mitsubishi you would see they use Mitsuboshi Belts...the logo on the belts being Three Squares, and Mitsuboshi meaning 'Three Squares'... Or how about how BMW chose the blue and white after WWII because they couldn't build airplane engines anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 So if Maru means zero, then what does Kobayashi mean? Seriously, though.. is the "Maru" frequently used in maritime designation the same "maru" you speak of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Nope... Like I said, Maru is Zero...but like there are three ways to say the number '3'...the same sounding word can have several meanings depending on the ideographs used to depict it. "Katayama" as calligraphed by "Mr. K" would have a different pattern than if a 4th grader spelled it out phonetically using Katakana. Katakana and Hiragana are the two main forms of writing, one it old Chinese-Based Ideographs, Katakana is a phonetic way of writing so the Japanese can incorporate words that don't have a traditional old-school Hiragana. Like the Convienience Store "7-11" If you look at it, you would think it was Sichi-GoIchi...literally '7-11' in Japanese. But NOOOOOOOO! It's spelled in Katakana only, and is pronounced in Japanese using the Katakana Phonetic Spelling 'Seben-Erebbin' Figure that crap out. So "Maru" as written in English could mean several things---like you said, "Nissan-Maru" was the ship (as are most Japanese Ships) but the "Maru" that signifies "0" is totally a different ideograph than the one for "Maru" the ship suffix! Clear as mud now? Oh, and this even confuses Japanese---you have to actually READ what is being said sometimes, because the context in which the word is spoken has to define what it means. San-Maru in context is 'Three Zero' and is probably someone saying it that way for a reason. Normally 30 would be SanJu---literally meaning Three-Ten. But a Z432 is not a 'Zetto YonbyakuSanJuNi' (Z Four-Hundred Thirty-Two) but rather 'Zetto Yon-San-Ni' Literally 'Z Four Three Two' There's a reason when you start to learn Japanese that one of the first phrases you pick up is 'Kami Ni Kaiete, oh kudasai' "Please Write it Down". There is a "World Traveller" advert out there for Cingular or AT&T right now where a guy says 'So Mr. World Traveller is about to call his best customer 'Mr. Stinky Fish-Face' through a simple intonation gaffe. This is not too far from the truth. Chinese is even worse. "Ma ma ma ma ma ma" is literally a sentence with a different intonation on each way of saying "Ma" that makes it mean a different thing, each with it's own Ideograph! I haven't tried past 'NeHow Ma' Five different intonations intimidates me! Even clearer, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughdogz Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 ^^^ That is so true Tony. I tried to learn Japanese, but gave up...Spanish is much easier for me to learn. I've seen my Mom "write" Kanji on her palm sometimes when conversing to another Japanese, just like you said. What is really funny is when they catch themselves "palming" Kanji while they are talking on the phone! What is really cool is that my Mom can still communicate with her Chinese doctor, when they both write in Kanji / Traditional Chinese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 actually, tony, that was great! I knew just enough about it going in to grab what you were getting at. Would it be too obscure to say that it is world linguistic difficulties and stresses such as these that lead to.. ..more bars, in more places? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudypoochris Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 ?? OK Tony, now answer this: Who's "they"? LOL. Also: "San Maru, a Korean restaurant on Telegraph at 43rd. St. in Oakland" I didn't know you were from Oakland? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedgato Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Awesome info!! Linguistics is a very cool discipline. I had a Japanese exchange student stay with us in High School. Pretty funny, my grandmother spoke only Spanish, Taro spoke very limited English. We spoke Spanish at home and English in public, My aunt is Korean from Korea, my uncle is German from Germany (not married to the Korean aunt). Throw in Japanese and weekends were a mess!! The food was incredible though!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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