Quote:
Originally Posted by MMM
I remember in high school some American friends being bothered that the Japanese kids referred to them as "gaijin". They mistakenly understood the word to mean "foreigner". "In America YOU are the gaijin!" the American kids would respond. What they didn't understand is that "gaijin" doesn't mean foreigner. "Gaijin" means "non-Japanese".
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Iv encountered this a few times over the years as well. It happened in high and college with exchange students, and the little knowledge that American's knew about Japanese meant they also thought that "gaijin" meant foreigner. Unfortunately, it took another American to explain the real meaning of the word as they thought the Japanese students were lying to them.
Being called gaijin is not a "naughty" word as some seem to get really touchy over it.