Kawhai do you keep calling me that?

It's no secret that I don't exactly blend in here in Japan. My relatively different appearance has earned me many a comment, but there's one that keeps popping up time and time again. かわいい. Pronounced 'kawaii', this word is usually translated to mean 'cute'. Now the word 'cute' in english has two meanings; cute like a puppy and cute like Zac Efron, neither of which are descriptions I would usually assign to myself. Being generally larger than most of the people I've met here, I can't be seen as cute like a puppy, and I highly doubt everyone's been hitting on me.


So what's the deal?

Well, just like how the word 'cute' has many meanings in English, so does the word 'kawaii' in Japanese. The first and foremost meaning of 'kawaii' is something that is cute, small, and generally makes you want to make high pitched noises and squeeze something. The second meaning is a little more subtle and is generally used to describe a person who is sweet, kind or generally has a friendly demeanour about them. Not to toot my own horn, but that sounds a lot more like me.

See, that's one of the wonderful things about Japanese that I'm starting to realise. Unlike in English, where words usually have only one or two very clear connotations, a single adjective in Japanese can have multiple different meanings, depending on the context in which it is used. Maybe as I get better at Japanese, I'll find out what else people have been calling me...

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