That one is really interesting, because a lot of languages has it, from guten apetit, through dobrou chuť to itadakimasu. But english was out of school that day I suppose.
As English often does - if it makes sense in another language and is easy for English speakers to understand the context it’s used, they’re quite happy stealing it. Especially French.
Celtic, western Germanic (Angles, Saxons, Frisian), Latin, northern Germanic (Danish, Norse), and in 1066 finally French (which is a mixing bowl in its own right). The trenchcoat is way more crowded than you think.
Because that is what you say in Japanese when you start eating but interestingly it doesn’t mean “Guten Appetit” (basically “have a nice meal”) but “I am (thankfully) going to receive (a nice meal)”. While “Guten Appetit” is about others who are eating alongside you, “itadakimasu” is about the speaker.
Wasn’t itadakimasu religious in origin? Making it something more like the prayer before the food that English-speaking Christians do - “Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive…”?
I wouldn’t know. The verb is itadaku which is a humble form of the verb morau, meaning “to receive”. The imasu part is basically just polite grammar. If there is anything religious about it, it’s obscure.
That one is really interesting, because a lot of languages has it, from guten apetit, through dobrou chuť to itadakimasu. But english was out of school that day I suppose.
English stole 'Bon Apetit" from French fair and square!
As English often does - if it makes sense in another language and is easy for English speakers to understand the context it’s used, they’re quite happy stealing it. Especially French.
Loanwords are a thing in every language, especially English loanwords.
That’s because English isn’t a language, it’s three other languages in a trenchcoat, stealing stuff from every other language.
Celtic, western Germanic (Angles, Saxons, Frisian), Latin, northern Germanic (Danish, Norse), and in 1066 finally French (which is a mixing bowl in its own right). The trenchcoat is way more crowded than you think.
Sacrebleu !
Did you mean itadakimasu?
Because that is what you say in Japanese when you start eating but interestingly it doesn’t mean “Guten Appetit” (basically “have a nice meal”) but “I am (thankfully) going to receive (a nice meal)”. While “Guten Appetit” is about others who are eating alongside you, “itadakimasu” is about the speaker.
Wasn’t itadakimasu religious in origin? Making it something more like the prayer before the food that English-speaking Christians do - “Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive…”?
I wouldn’t know. The verb is itadaku which is a humble form of the verb morau, meaning “to receive”. The imasu part is basically just polite grammar. If there is anything religious about it, it’s obscure.