4/13/2016

Bamboo shoots

My mother in law sent us bamboo shoots yesterday.



I sent a text message to my husband to inform him of receiving them because they are perishable so I wanted him to come home early and cut and boil them last night.

It is really hard for me to boil them because they were so big that I can't cut them easily.

Since he loves bamboo shoots very much, he always comes home early if I inform him of receiving bamboo shoots.

He frequently comes home late,  so it is a good reason for him to come home early.
But he didn't come home while my children and I were awake.

When I woke up and went to the kitchen, he had finished boiling the bamboo shoots, so I peeled their skins.

 
I made steamed rice with bamboo shoots.
 
He will be glad to see it.
 
 
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2 comments:

  1. Hello Kumi-san,

    Glad to see that you were able to find time to write another blog article.

    The bamboo shoots sound very interesting I don't think I have had them knowingly (though they may have been in some Chinese food without my knowledge).

    I often goto the 楽天レシピ site to practice Kanji and vocabulary for food items. When I went there yesterday I noticed that bamboo shoots were one of the most popular searches on their site. Is it bamboo shoot season in Japan? Or are they normally just a very popular food item in Japan?

    Hope your work studies are going well and that you and your husband enjoy/enjoyed the bamboo shoots.

    Here is a list of some of the issues found with the post:

    This line:
    I sent text message to him to inform of receiving them because they are perishable so I wanted him to come home early and cut and boil them last night.

    Should be:
    I sent a text message to my husband to inform him of receiving them because they are perishable so I wanted him to come home early and cut and boil them last night.

    Reason: I replaced him with with my husband for two reasons:

    1. It wasn't clear who "him" was referring to until later in the sentence and so it is better to be specific as to who you mean. If you had previously mentioned the text was about your husband then using him would have been fine.

    2. When using him in reference to someone who has not yet been mentioned previously in a sentence it can sound very very slightly demeaning to the person you are referring to. I know it is clear you were not being mean. And it is clear from the later text that you are not being mean, it is better to avoid this possibility.

    Examples:

    I received bamboo shoots which my husband needs to prepare. I asked him to come home early to do it.

    The above is ok to use him because you made clear in the sentence beforehand who "him" is, this also wont sound slightly mean for the same reason.

    Just saying:

    I asked him to come home and prepare the bamboo shoots.

    You can imagine "him" being said with a slight sneer. But again only if the person has not been mentioned previously. The nearest thing I can think of in Japanese is referring to someone with pronouns that are normally only used for objects.

    Another example of this may be if you meet a person that you don't really like, you know their name but because you don't like them you don't use it when referring to them with other people, you use man/woman/him/her/that/it, rather than their name:

    Example:

    I met that woman at the supermarket.
    That woman has an attitude.
    The woman will never learn.
    He will never understand.
    I told her she should mind her own business.
    The man is not reliable.

    Note: The sounding slightly demeaning is very very slight and most people would not notice it and would not think it was rude. But since you are not a native speaker it's just easier to try and avoid the potential problem.

    This line:
    He always comes home late, so it is a good reason for him to come home early.

    Should be:
    He (very often/frequently) comes home late, so it is a good reason for him to come home early.

    Reason: I changed always to (very often/frequently) as this is more accurate than saying he always comes home late.

    This line:
    When I woke up and went to the kitchen, he finished boiling, so I peeled their skins.

    Should be:
    When I woke up and went to the kitchen, he had finished boiling (the bamboo shoots/them), so I peeled their skins.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Terry.
      Yes, bamboo shoots is one of the flavors of spring.

      About "him",

      It was just my mistake, but I didn't know such a interpretation.
      Thank you for the detailed explanation!

      Delete