Thread: Osu!
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Old 06-22-2005, 03:52 PM   #57
siwilson
Dojo: Kenshinkai Yoshinkan Aikido
Location: Portsmouth
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 450
England
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Re: Osu!

Quote:
Ryan Bigelow wrote:
Where I put "wording" in the above post I should have written "kanji". I was trying to get across why those particular characters were chosen as ateji . I didn't mean to imply that "Osu" isn't a great word or that it isn't appreciated outside of manga, just that dramatic ateji are VERY popular in manga.

The statement that it doesn't matter what the average Japanese person thinks about "osu" struck me as odd. Maybe the poster meant in reference to this particular thread, though that would still be inaccurate. If "osu" has a deep connotation of respect in your dojo, thats excellent and probably reflects a underlying sense of respect throughout the dojo which is even better. But that in no way does that imply that every other meaning is for the word is wrong. I would think that if your truly interested in knowing what the word means then you would start with trying to find out what the word means in 95 percent of the cases. Not what it means in a singular specialized locale. Just my two cents
Ryan
Just like in English, Japanese has words that sound the same but have different meanings.

Fair and Fare for example.

Ai and Ai ... Love/Together/Mutually/Fellow/Joint/Associate/Accomplice/Indigo!

The "OSU!" in the dojo has nothing in common with the "osu" in the street. So 95% of use can mean something else, but if it is out of context for all of us speaking in the other 5%..........

In reality it is the difference between Apples and Broccoli!

Osu!
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