“I’m an eel!”

Have you ever order the soba noodle by saying “私はたぬき”(I’m a fox.) or “私はとらだ”(I’m an eel.)? Have you ever heard any Japanese saying that? “私はxxです” is the very first expression when a Japanese lesson which is a way of self-introduction. However, how to understand the above situation?

Once I have heard an interesting story. A foreign student was taken to the public canteen by a Japanese friend to have lunch during which the foreign student heard other guests were saying to the clerk “私はうなぎだ”. He checked the dictionary immediately and shocked that “Japanese call themselves as an animal to show polite in restaurants!”. Then he shouted in English that “I’m an eel!”.

It might be a small joke for many people, however, such misunderstanding must be avoided in the Japanese study. The correct way to understand the “私はうなぎだ” is to transfer it to “私は’うなぎ丼’を注文する” (
わたしはうなぎどんをちゅうもんする, I would like to order the eel rice). From this example, we can see that the self-evident information has been omitted. This is a very important way to authentically speak Japanese. From the next example, you might understand why the local Japanese talk like that.

A: 食べた? (たべた, have you ate?)
B: うん、食べた. (うん、たべた, yes, I have)
A: じゃ、食べちゃうから待ってて. (じゃ、たべちゃうからまってて, then wait for me a bit, I’m going to eat)

However, if people say this without omitting, it would be quite annoying.

A: あなたは、お昼(ひる)ご飯(はん)をもう食(た)べましたか。それとも、まだあなたは昼ご飯を食べていないですか
B: はい、わたしはもう昼ご飯を食べました。あなたがまだ昼ご飯を食べていないのなら、どうぞ、あなたも昼ご飯を召(め)し上(あ)がってください
A: それでは、失礼(しつれい)して、お昼ご飯を食べますから、私が昼ご飯を食べ終(お)わるまで、すみませんが少々(しょうしょう)お待(ま)ちください