Ah, but those tones of voice are deucedly hard to convey in English prosody. True, an actor or actress can convey "what a complete and utter ass! I need to show my total disdain for him" and get it across with a "Hello, Newman."
Part of the sad thing is that a literal translation of -san as "Mister" is that, while Japanese calls folks "Mr. So-and-so" regularly as part of normal everyday usage, English is moving away from it. In fact, many native Anglophones use "Mister So-and-so" or just the last name as a slightly insulting mode of address.
Hmm. This post had a point at one point but darned if I can locate it now....
*shrug* Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll
Part of the sad thing is that a literal translation of -san as "Mister" is that, while Japanese calls folks "Mr. So-and-so" regularly as part of normal everyday usage, English is moving away from it. In fact, many native Anglophones use "Mister So-and-so" or just the last name as a slightly insulting mode of address.
Hmm. This post had a point at one point but darned if I can locate it now....
*shrug* Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll