The true meaning of Mushi-shi

M

melonpan

Death Scythe
I was just looking around wikipedia's Japanese honorifics page and found something quite interesting, an honorific I had never heard of... the -shi honorific that is.

Wikipedia said:
Shi
Shi (氏, Shi?) is used in formal writing, and sometimes in very formal speech, for referring to a person who is unfamiliar to the speaker, typically a person known through publications whom the speaker has never actually met. For example, the shi title is common in the speech of newsreaders. It is preferred in legal documents, academic journals, and certain other formal written styles. Once a person's name has been used with shi, the person can be referred to with shi alone, without the name, as long as there is only one person being referred to.
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Then I realised why Mushi-shi is called Mushi-shi. Now it all makes sense.

Just thought some might be interested ^_^ .
 
Jayme said:
This will change my life forever.
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Hey hey hey, that's no way to talk to a person of my status. Always end your sentances from now on with Danime-sama, yes?

EDIT: If not, you will have to be called Jayme-jukeisha.
 
That makes sense in a way. It's more 'mysterious' than the present-day equivalent, which would be 'insectologist' or similar. It refers to an expert I suppose. Beats the hell out of the live action adaptation's title of 'Bug Master', at any rate.

At least the DVD #1 release date of October 22 seems to be fairly definitive now. Two long, long months...
 
Martin said:
That makes sense in a way. It's more 'mysterious' than the present-day equivalent, which would be 'insectologist' or similar. It refers to an expert I suppose. Beats the hell out of the live action adaptation's title of 'Bug Master', at any rate.

At least the DVD #1 release date of October 22 seems to be fairly definitive now. Two long, long months...
Click to expand...

I'll take some pictures of the artbox and stuffs for you. It's an absolutely gorgeous release.

EDIT: But in a few days because I don't have access to a decent camera at the moment :/
 
DaNiMe-sama said:
Martin said:
That makes sense in a way. It's more 'mysterious' than the present-day equivalent, which would be 'insectologist' or similar. It refers to an expert I suppose. Beats the hell out of the live action adaptation's title of 'Bug Master', at any rate.

At least the DVD #1 release date of October 22 seems to be fairly definitive now. Two long, long months...
Click to expand...

I'll take some pictures of the artbox and stuffs for you. It's an absolutely gorgeous release.

EDIT: But in a few days because I don't have access to a decent camera at the moment :/
Click to expand...
Thanks for the offer but I've already pre-ordered it! I've been hoping for a DVD release ever seeing the first ep on fansub, and I'd recommend it to...well, pretty much everyone actually. It's one of those series that is genuinely unique. And that starter pack really does look beautiful. :)
 
Martin said:
Beats the hell out of the live action adaptation's title of 'Bug Master', at any rate.
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Well, in all fairness "Bug Master" isn't a bad translation as such, it's just another case where the honourifics really can't be translated well. This is one series that I'd suggest a totally different title if they wanted to give it an english one. Still, leaving it as mushi-shi is probably the best.
 
Hi! Sorry for popping in, I'm Japanese and would like to explain - the Shi that DaNiMe-sama introduced is more like "Mr.".
The Shi used for Mushi-shi is a different kanji, and it means master or professional.
By the way, the same Shi is used for the Japanese title for FMA(Renkinjutsushi) and Kekkaishi!

Anyways, the translation 'Bug' for 'Mushi' doesn't sound that good to me either...
 
Nat said:
Hi! Sorry for popping in, I'm Japanese and would like to explain - the Shi that DaNiMe-sama introduced is more like "Mr.".
The Shi used for Mushi-shi is a different kanji, and it means master or professional.
By the way, the same Shi is used for the Japanese title for FMA(Renkinjutsushi) and Kekkaishi!

Anyways, the translation 'Bug' for 'Mushi' doesn't sound that good to me either...
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for the information on that, Nat. Always learn something new every day ^_^.
This stuff interests me so much I just might explode right now.
 
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