what now?
May 24, 2006 3:04 AM   Subscribe

It says "sou deshoune" on some Japanese candy. I assume this is Romanji. What does it mean? Is there a free dictionary online where I can figure out this stuff?
posted by anonymous to Writing & Language (6 answers total)
 
そうでしょうね。="It probably is."
Taken out of context, it makes no sense.
posted by misozaki at 3:22 AM on May 24, 2006


I'm not that good at Japanese, but I'd translate it as something like "That's right, isn't it?", or "It's probably like that, right?"
posted by martinrebas at 3:26 AM on May 24, 2006


It's a polite way to say "Oh, really?". It's a less direct way of saying そうですね (sou desu ne).
posted by Alison at 5:13 AM on May 24, 2006


Let me correct myself. Soudesuka is "Oh, really." Sou deshoune/sou desune means "well", "yeah" it's sort of a confirming phrase. Here is the wwwjdic entry.
posted by Alison at 5:18 AM on May 24, 2006


Just agreeing with what's already been said:

It's sort of a conversational filler that expresses agreement with someone or something that has been said. I find that trying to literally translate any of the variations of "sou ... " is fairly difficult without context...

... and in the context of a candy wrapper I'm not sure what to make of it.
posted by dead_ at 6:41 AM on May 24, 2006


Simple Japanese Phrases: Responding in Agreement
http://japanese.about.com/blsjp20_4.htm

There, it's translated as "I suppose".
posted by martinrebas at 8:19 AM on May 24, 2006


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