The development of language (2)

I’ve come across another interesting expression, which tends to be used amongst Japanese youth of these days. That is ｢普通に」 or “futsuu ni”, the dictionary translation would be, ordinary or regular in context it has the meaning of generally or average for example in this example I’ve translated the futsuu ni as “just”:
「普通に学校行ったよ」 or “futsuu ni gakkou itta yo” (I just went to school)

「フツーにおいしいね」or “futuu ni oishii ne” (It’s just delicious)
Even for myself this expression seems gramatically troubling to translate because I am not exactly sure what the speaker is trying to get at. Is it delicious or is it not delicious? What are they trying to say?  If we take this to the streets of and ask around we find that:

「普通に学校行ったよ」means 「当たり前に」”atarimaeni”、「いつものように」”itsumonoyouni”

Sothe translation becomes “ofcourse” in the first and the second conveys the meaning of “just a usual (day)”. In our second example, 「フツーにおいしいね」can be taken to mean rather than just delicious but the level is just a little lower than the word “delicious”. If that wasn’t vague enough for you then try this example,

「フツーに楽しい」, “futuu ni tanoshii” (just fun). You might find yourself in a situation where it is not all excited and shooting arrows around in need of this expression. If you’re at a party and your friend says: 「楽しくないの？｝, “tanoshikunaino?” (Aren’t you having fun?) You might use this as a paradoxical answer.

These expressions clearly make not just conversation amongst different generations difficult but even to translate or even just explain to people who are unfamilar with the language. I suppose it may be a way of becoming more vague and to hide ones true feelings.

Tags: Japanese development, new language