The changes of language: 大丈夫

The Japanese expression, 「大丈夫」[Daijyoubu] has a quite a broad degree of meaning to it. Take the following examples into consideration: 「禁煙席で大丈夫ですか？」[Kin en seki de daijyoubu desuka?] and「おはしのほうは大丈夫ですか？」[Ohashi no hou ha daijyoubu desuka?]. The first example is implying, Is the non-smoking section alright? While the second example is implying, Are Hashi [chopsticks] alright? While both are correct, the use of Daijyoubu seems to add a hint of childish talk to the expressions because the more correct expression would be: 「禁煙席でよろしいですか？」[kin en seki de yoroshii desuka?] and 「おはしはいりませんか？」[Ohashi ha irimasenka?]. The expression Daijyoubu carries the meaning of “without worries” or “no problem” so when a concerned speaker asks Daijyoubu desuka?, the normal way to answer would be “daijyoubu desu” indicating that the one answering is ok. It seems that the use of “daijyoubu desuka?” has evolved into what can now be called the “convenience store” keigo or honorific expression. There are many reasons for this but the one I found to be the most interesting has been found that the people who work at convenience stores, typically university students meet many people in a day and the use of Japanese honorifics can be long and tiring after a days work so certain expressions are shorten to make the expression easier to say to hundreds of people, while keeping a degree of formality in the expression.

Tags: changes of language