Fortunately the typhoon didn't seem to hit a big damage in Utsuomiya. This morning I could hang out all the laundry. And I weeded the garden " a little". Even it's in the end of summer, MYOUGA is growing. On the other hand KINKAN fruits don't grow bigger even though it had lots of flowers.
From yesterday I had decided what I should have done today. (Does it make sense, it's difficult for me to use a correct tense.) It's not a job, but-- "I'll read up all these three books". And now I'm finished.
One is an English picture book,it is not so difficult.
Another is an English kids novel, it is a little bit difficult to understand English.
The other is an English grammar reference book written in Japanese. I can understand the contents, but--- it's not so interesting.
These days I'll try to memorize a short skit as long as I have time. I think it will work for me to speak English fluently. Today's skit is interesting. (And Jan always help me, thanks.)
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In British culture, talking about money is viewed as impolite. If you ask a British person about their wage or salary, the person is unlikely to give you any specific details, and your question might even annoy them. The upper classes take this idea even further, and often buy expensive things without asking the price. Because of this, there is an English saying ; if you have to ask the price how much it costs, you can't afford it.
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Do British people buy a car without asking the price? ( I'd like to hear Tim's opinion, or I hope to get some comments from the U.K)
12 comments:
from Jan: I think perhaps those days of "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" are basically over except for the uber wealthy...as perhaps the "I want it, I don't care how much it costs" days, as well. Since the mentality of Facebook and sharing "everything in your life" took over our culture...I believe younger people here in the US are much more open about sharing the financial aspects of their lives, but my generation is still pretty private about such things...not secretative but may not volunteer unless specifically asked. What about Britian, Tim?
Probably the British expression at the end should be, " if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it" or "if you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it" because we would rarely use cost and price in the same sentence like that.
My English isn't strictly British, it's Canadian with lots of Americanisms and Briticisms thrown in!
My Canadian father never had enough money to buy a car (or truck) without asking the price!
We also don't talk about money in Canada...things like salary and price of things is considered private, so we wouldn't like answering...and probably wouldn't, to be honest.
Thanks for your comments Jan
I hope Tim will come here.
In Japan in our generation we seldom talk about our wage, sarlary, real property. Of course in case of marrige of my daughters we should ask how much their partenrs earn.
Thanks Helen,
Yes, it's my mistake. A correct sentence is that if you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it.
My image of Canadian people is that you are inflenced by French culture. And I know two Canadians, one lives here, and the other live in Canada. Both of them are really open like you.
And I think the ideas about talking about money are different dependes on the generation.
Jan again: I would "share" a lot of financial information with someone like you, Mieko, because it's an honest effort to understand the value of things...such as the price of a home, the cost of monthly electric bills, how much it costs to insure a car, how much a teacher makes, how much it costs a year to live in retirement...things like that. It's a comparison between life in Japan and Canada, US or Britain just to learn and understand each other's cultures and lives. However, the point of your original comments had to with people having the ability to buy something no matter how much it costs. In truth, wealthy people usually have a very good idea how much "high ticket items" actually cost!
It depends which part of Canada you are from whether you are influenced by French culture! I'm from the west, and French doesn't really influence my area at all. There are communities that are quite French, but it really isn't much of an influence on the general population. It may have changed since I lived in Canada, but the people in Quebec tended to stay in Quebec and didn't travel outside much.
Yes, asking somebody about their income is generally considered impolite here in the UK. I have considered about this subject a little, and these are my thoughts.
I believe the reason that asking such a question is impolite is that the person being asked could be embarrassed or ashamed, depending on their actual income and personal sensitivity. It is the causing of those negative emotional responses that is the impolite act.
The embarrassment or shame would result from comparing actuality with expectation. Many people think income is a measurement of success, and success comes from ability and/or hard work. Therefore, in many people's minds, income is an indicator of the merit of a person. The asker could be trying to judge the other person. The thought behind the question could be, for example, "Did my old classmate become successful?", "Is she more or less capable than the other people at this party?", or in the extreme case, "Is he a better person than me?". Of course, income is only one aspect of a person, but it is an easy measurable way to assess somebody superficially. Although it is often inaccurate, people still use it as a way to gauge another person.
Another kind of judgment that could be made based on the answer to that question about income is whether the person's lifestyle is compatible with their income, regardless of the income being small or large. Is the person sensible with their money or do they waste it? Does the person's way of life seem too luxurious for their income (so they have borrowed a lot, perhaps). Consequently, asking about income can allow those critical comparisons to be made, and can embarrass or shame the person. The person could be reluctant to answer so would have to refuse somehow, be vague or even lie about it, none of which is a comfortable thing to do.
I think it is true that younger people are more open about such matters, but that could be because they are still establishing themselves in life and their career, so current income is not as much a measure of success or failure, and they don't need to be sensitive about revealing it. In fact, those who have begun successfully will probably be very happy to brag about it.
I think, in Britain, there are still the remnants of a class society in which a person's value isn't based so much on money, but on family history, personal values and education. From that standpoint, money is considered rather vulgar and talking about it is even worse. Although that kind of thought process is old-fashioned, it still has a slight influence on the way people behave regarding politeness.
That last point might have a connection with your other question about "If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it". This is now used as a humorous way of saying something is very expensive. However, it is true that in very luxurious shops in London, the price of items is not shown. I am thinking of shops selling expensive jewellery, watches, exclusive designer fashion and luxury cars, etc. For ordinary people like us, price is an important factor in deciding whether or not we will buy something, and we need to know quite early so we are not disappointed to find out later we cannot afford it. I imagine that the super-rich who don't need to think about the cost, some of whom still consider talk of money to be indecent, just assess the quality and attributes of the object, and hand over their charge cards if they decide to buy. It's hard to visualise a millionaire or billionaire saying, "Oh, that's too much. I can't afford it".
Jan, thanks for your comments. I know you are good at keeping track of financese. And we (Yuki and I) sometimes lazy.
Well, for most of (non-highclassed) Japanese or we (Yuki and I), when we ask the price, it means "we would like to buy it".
Thanks Helen for your coming again. In Canada they have two official languages, don't they? So I had thought that you must have been influenced by French cultures.
Thanks Tim. I owe it to you that I can continue keeping this diary. You were the first person to visit here --- more than 5 years ago.
And as I expect, your comments are really analytic. I didn't have the idea that "whether the person's lifestyle is compatible with their income, regardless of the income being small or large". I got it.
During our trip to Taiwan, my daughter's shoe broke at the airport. We ran into a brand shop which was a duty-free shop. The items nad no price tag. But we really wanted one. So I asked "How much are they?" They were more than 30$. So I said "That's too much, I can't afford them".
Asking about finances, wages or how much someone paid for something is considered impolite in the U.S. as well, just like asking someone's age or weight. Not everyone would be offended, and some people would share the information freely, but really depends on the situation, who is asking the question and who is being asked the question.
Thank you for your comment Bryn.
Yes I agree with you. And I was laughing reading your comment, "Yes, yes, asking age and weight supposed to be more impolite". (In Japan it's ok to ask the blod type.)
And when I ask " how much is it". means -- I almost decide to buy it. so the British saying is really interesting to me.
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