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Word: watashi (lookup in dictionary) (lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
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Usage:

...point: ego, je, ich, io, ya. In Japanese, where nothing is that simple, the word has two dozen or more forms, depending on who is talking, and to whom, and the social relationship between them. An elderly man might refer to himself as washi, but his wife would say watashi, or, for that matter, atakushi, or atashi; their daughter might say atai and their son boku. Then there is temae, which means both you and I. But the Japanese often evade these social difficulties by dropping all pronouns entirely...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Language: The Devil's Tongue | 8/1/1983 | See Source »

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