Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens
No, Scotts. Lucien is right. It [kawaii] translates to 'cute'. Interestingly, if you take away the last 'i' you'd have a girl you'd immediately want to run away from  . |
In most situations in Japan, people would know what you meant if you said if you said kawai instead of kawaii. However, if you're like me, you've not so lucky. Shortly after I moved to Japan, I met a young couple out with their baby. The little baby girl was just so cute, I couldn't help but say something. So I looked at the mother and told her, "Kawai sou desu ne!" (Your baby looks pitiful, doesn't she!), thinking I was telling her that her baby was very cute. The mother looked shocked and asked why her baby was kawai. I was confused by her reaction and by her question "why?", so I just blurted out the first thing which came to mind, which unfortunately was basically, "Possibly because you are?"
I believe she would have struck me, except that her husband stepped in asked me if I meant kawaii, not kawai. I wasn't sure if I did or not, but it seemed like a good idea to tell him yes regardless. Fortunately that defused the situation, and the couple thanked me for the compliment and let me live. It wasn't until I got home and checked my dictionary for kawaisou that I realized what I'd said.
