They've been at it again....those old guys that write text books and English learning material. More unnatural, weird English.
"Adore. Fabulous." I have heard from several Japanese male friends over the years that these are words for women. Well...women in 2012 do NOT use these words! Maybe they did back in the 40's or 50's but not anymore. These words and others like it should not be included in English books if they are trying to teach up to date, modern, casual English as spoken in America.
I just saw "adore" in an NHK book the other day. And the book explains in Japanese that it is a word women use. I asked my female acquaintance (Canadian girl in her 20's) just to make sure I'm not going crazy. She said "No," she doesn't use it. And she doesn't use "fabulous" either. These are words you hear rich old ladies saying in movies. Or maybe a TV show mocking the rich or British.
"That dress is just fabulous, darling! Fabulous. I adore that color! Absolutely adore it!" You will rarely hear this in a natural, normal setting from a man or woman.
The Japanese language has a bunch of words for men and for women- words which are rarely, if ever spoken by the opposite sex. English is different. We do not have words for just women or just men- not anymore. Not any that I can think of off hand at least...
It's hard enough to learn a second language without a bunch of out-dated nonsense thrown in. Good luck sorting the trash.
Thanks for your comment! Recently, fabulous has become a stereotypically‘gay' word. Used by homosexuals. It's become somewhat of a joke. People say fabulous if they are joking around or imitating gay people. Or just trying to be fancy or cute (in a non-gay way). This is probably because it's a somewhat dramatic word, and gay guys are stereotyped as being over-dramatic. So it's a little complicated.
ReplyDeleteI think it's better if Japanese people don't use it so much. When I asked my co-workers, they said they never use it. I guess it depends on the country (America, England, etc.) And the city's culture (LA is quite different from NY). Good luck! I checked out your blog. Nice idea. I'll check again in the future. ^-^
Proof (before anyone thinks I'm crazy for that last reply):
ReplyDeleteThere is a UK TV show called "Absolutely Fabulous: Gay," which features several gay characters. And also, the Canadian show, " My Fabulous Gay Wedding."
There is a website "50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live."
So...a quick google search shows that it's definitely associated with homosexuality (in a light-hearted, non-insulting way).