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                                 Allll righty-then. Chotto is where I left off.
  Chotto is my favorite word, it means "a little" or "a bit."   You can say, "Chotto mattene." Which means, "Wait a minute!"  or "Chotto ii" "a little good"  or even turn someone down for a date when they ask.  You just say, "Chotto" and it clears everything up and they leave you alone!  I wish I had that word in English sometimes!
  But what's up with the double consonent? 
  Okae, there's no easy way to explain this my good-speaking English-types.  But in the Japanese language there is a type of pause that is, in itself, a letter as well.  Remember the letter 'tsu'?   Yea, shrink that down to a quarter of its size and put it between "cho" and "to".  It might look like "Chotsuto" to us, but because the "tsu" shrank, it becomes "Chotto."   The double consonant is a PAUSE!  So say it like this... "Cho.....to."   With a few less dots and less dramatic like.
  Here are some other words that share this phenomenon: 1.) Sapporo (the beer/prefecture) 2.) Kekkon (marriage) 3.) Shitteiru (to know) 4.) Eriotto  (My last name.  ^_^  Elliott)
  Anyone else bored? Good!   Next, the most useful words in Japan! Be there, or be a baka gaijin! 
																
								
  
																
																  Kawariyasui · Sun Dec 26, 2004 @ 06:53am · 1 Comments 							  |