Once bitten
In Japan, I went into a chemist's and explained that I had been bitten by a spider Kuma ni sasareta. Shocked, worried faces told me something was wrong. Kuma?, they asked, Hai, hai, okina kuma - 'Yes, yes, a big spider'. More shock. I had just told them I had been bitten by a bear kuma, not a spider kumo.
Sent by: Amber
Comments
I had a similar experience. Telling someone you have bears in your basement is confusing, as apposed to spiders.
Haha, one of the problems with learning Japanese is that soon there are a lot of synonyms (like in the US, the term bat). I once semi freaked out when a classmate of mine said kumo in a sentence and being quite a beginner in Japanese in Japan, I thought she meant spider (and I'm a big arachnaphobic). Turns out she meant kumo, as in clouds.
I often forget the difference between kuma and kumo as well. Same with nigai (salty, bitter) and nagai (long) and kuroi (dark) and karai (spicy). I remember karai (spicy) cause it makes you 'cry'. There is a ton of these words in Japanese. Once a person came talking about kazoku (family) and I thought she said Kazako (some lady I knew). I was really confused why she was talking about this lady and why she was at our apartment. I learned that day what kazoku meant. I felt so silly afterwards though.
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