352 CHAPTER 8. SET PHRASESeverything that is the result of this meeting is of a good nature. It’s only
used once, when you first meet someone, and is more accurately described
as saying something that lets the listener know they are asked to treat the
speaker well in the future.The more formal version is
, which
adds the verb for ”wishing” to the statement, thus expressing that the
speaker sincerely wishes to be treated favourably in the future. The short
form, just , can be used in a broader seĴing to indicate you will
leave something to someone under the assumption that all will be well.( ) - ”Why”
This is the most direct version of ”why”, and is a pure interrogative; it’s
short, and literally means ”what reason”. Being the most direct, it’s also
quite rude, and there is no polite way to use this word, so it’s best to try
and avoid using it at all. Because it is technically a noun, it can be used
in a softer form using , being , but even then this is still
considered more direct than asking the other two versions of ”why” with:
or.
( ) - ”Why”
This particular version of ”why” is considered more direct than ,
but less direct than. It is indirect in that it literally asks ”by which
means [do you reason this way]” or ”by which means [did this situation
arise]”, but is more direct because it’s shorter than and thus sounds
more curt.- Being thirsty
When one is thirsty in Japan, one doesn’t say ”I am thirsty” but instead
uses the less direct statement ”my throat is dry”, similar to how one could
say ”I am a bit parched” in English rather than saying ”I’m a bit thirsty”.