Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2015 September 8

I found this plaque hanging outside an office here at work. What does it say, please? Dismas|^(talk) 06:11, 8 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

• It means 'undergoing preparations' in Japanese. 82.35.216.24 (talk) 09:11, 8 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

• Sounds like the equivalent to "Under Construction". StuRat (talk) 11:57, 8 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

That would be 工事中. 82.35.216.24 (talk) 12:32, 8 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I'm sure that's the literal translation, but my point is that you often state the same thing differently in different languages. For example, Belgians apparently say "How do you call yourself ?" instead of "What is your name ?". StuRat (talk) 12:45, 8 September 2015 (UTC) [reply]

In Portugal people say Ela chama - se Maria literally "She calls herself Maria" when mentioning someone's name. Also Chamo - me Maria, "My name is Mary". Must be a Romance language thing. 80.44.191.140 (talk) 14:31, 8 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. Spanish has the same usage. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:02, 8 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

And French. Je m'appelle Henri - I call myself Henri. Elle s'appelle Dominique - she calls herself Dominique. Akld guy (talk) 21:12, 8 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

• Do they really space out the hyphens on enclitics? —Tamfang (talk) 18:56, 9 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

• I'll note that in Romance languages a reflexive verb often has a passive meaning (with habitual aspect): le pain se mange avec du beurre, literally "bread eats itself with butter". —Tamfang (talk) 18:56, 9 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

If "undergoing preparations" is correct, then it might mean something more like "I'm working/studying, please don't bug me". Not sure what Dismas et al. are up to, but preparation for exams is a really big deal in Japan (Higher_education_in_Japan#University_entrance). Also, people don't usually have nice wooden signs that can be easily hung on a peg or removed for "under construction". SemanticMantis (talk) 14:55, 8 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it has anything to do with studying. I think it means the room itself is being prepared. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (もしもし！) 16:30, 8 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I live and work in the US state of Vermont. For the next 17 hours, I work for a microchip fabrication facility (tonight is my last shift since I have a new job starting Monday). This was hanging outside an office in a different building from the one I work in, so I'm not sure what they do in this particular office. The office across the hall has sometimes been open when I walk by. At those times, there were usually 3-4 Asian guys sitting at the desks in there. Dismas|^(talk) 17:51, 8 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The usual Japanese equivalent of a "closed" sign says 準備中 (junbichū, lit. "in preparation"). Given the similar literal meaning of 仕度中, I'd guess it has the same idiomatic meaning, but oddly I can't find it in online dictionaries (dictionary.goo.ne.jp, Eijiro, or WWWJDIC). This question seems to confirm that interpretation, though. (The questioner saw the sign on a store and was confused because there were customers in it; the answerer says they presumably entered the store before it closed.) -- BenRG (talk) 18:26, 8 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I went back there this morning and took a closer look. The back side says something different. This is a photo of that side. Does that help nail down what this says in its entirety? Dismas|^(talk) 19:57, 9 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Normally the signs on shop doors do say something different on each side. One side says "open", the other says "closed". 78.145.16.246 (talk) 20:19, 9 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It says 商い中, lit. "in business/trade". A typical "open" sign would say 営業中, which means essentially the same thing. The unusual wording may be meant to give it a classier feel (along with the brush-style script and the wood). Here's a similar sign alongside one with the usual wording and one with another variation of "closed" (本日終了, "done for today"). -- BenRG (talk) 01:33, 10 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, all!! Dismas|^(talk) 19:16, 10 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

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