Quote:
Originally Posted by Sashimister
Yes, the お is "necessary". It's used 99.9% of the time or more so I might as well call it necessary. I can't remember when I heard someone use the word without the お the last time. I probably heard it said by a tough man in a period drama a few years ago.
It's just like the お in お茶（おちゃ = tea） in that we use it without even thinking about being polite.
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Thanks. I had a feeling. It's one of those instances where the お has "become" part of the word over time, like in お茶 and, to a lesser extent, お金.
Don't many women say お水 to sound a bit more feminine? Or am I misremembering? I think I remember being taught that, but I'm not sure how often I actually heard it when I lived in Japan.