Based on my experiences working here, I’ve realized that many Japanese in the office don’t just say “No” to you or say “You’re doing a terrible job.” They like to indirectly hint at the idea of these, instead, using carefully worded phrases. For your consideration, I have translated them below into more plain-spoken English.
NOTE: Please keep in mind, this is just from my experience. I in no way aim to say that this applies to every single office environment here. This is only what I have learned from my own experiences.
Saying no
| “That would be a little difficult to do.” ちょっと難しいですね。 | That’s never going to happen. |
| “Let me think about it.” 少し考えさせて頂きます。 | And the answer is no. |
| “We’ve never done that before.” やっとことはないですね。 | And we don’t plan to start now. |
| “Hmm.” んー・ちょっと | Nope. |
| “That’s an interesting idea.” 面白いアイデアですね。 | That’s a weird idea I don’t like. |
| “No.” ダメです。 | Dear God it’s such a hard pass that I couldn’t even find a way around being indirect. |
| “I’m sorry but…” すみませんが | …this is not going to happen. |
Saying you did a bad job at something
| “That was hard to do, wasn’t it?” 大変でしたね。 | You did an absolutely horrible job. |
| “You worked hard.” 頑張りましたよね。 | A for effort. |
| “Would you like my help?” 手伝いましょうか？ | I can’t stand to see you do such a horrible job anymore. |
| “You’re so good at this.” 上手ですね。 | I’m trying to build up your confidence. |
| “It’s an interesting take on it.” 面白いやり方ですね。 | This is completely wrong. |
| “It’s a little different than how I imagined it would be.” ちょっと想像したことと違いますね。 | Did you even listen to me when I gave you the directions on how to do this? |
Hopefully this helpful new pocket translation dictionary I just wrote up will help you out if you ever decide to work in a traditional Japanese office setting so you don’t waltz around the office oblivious to the undertones of what people are saying to you.