ぽく / えらい / 執念が感じられる

[eeky]

Hi,

These sentences follow on from the sentence が、ここですぐ「いりません」といえないのは日本人ゆ えか、話だけは聞こうかと、一回、このおトクな期間を 確認したのが、墓穴を掘った, which I asked about in my last thread.


1. 「ンーンー（ナルホドの意。鼻を鳴らしてアメリカ人ぽく）、今日 限りね」

My translation: "Uh-uh, [a nasal sound used by Americans to mean 'I see']. Today only, right?"

Is this right? What is ぽく?


2. それで話がおわったところではっきり断ったところ、「 なぜ？たった今、興味を示したばかりじゃないですか」 えらいことになってしまった。

My translation: "Then, when the pitch was over, when I firmly declined, [the salesman said] "Why? Just now you were interested, weren't you?" ... ??? ...

What does えらいことになってしまった refer to? I understand えらい means "great; excellent; admirable; remarkable, etc.", but I can't relate this to the context.


3. 以後、いらないーなぜ、の申し問答が続き、もう出かけなければならいの で、ようやく事切れたと思うも、「明日のこの時間なら いますか」執念が感じられるのだ。

I think the start of this means: "This 'I don't need it -- Why not?' exchange continued, until at last I thought I would end the conversation because I had to go out". Is that right so far?

Is 「明日のこの時間ならいますか」 the salesman saying "Can I call again at the same time tomorrow?"

Is 執念が感じられる something to do with the writer perceiving the salesman's stubbornness?

 

[undrentide]

1. 「ンーンー（ナルホドの意。鼻を鳴らしてアメリカ人ぽく）、今日限りね」
My translation: "Uh-uh, [a nasal sound used by Americans to mean 'I see']. Today only, right?"
Is this right? What is ぽく?

～ぽい means "like ~"
アメリカ人ぽく（＝アメリカ人のように、アメリカ人みたいに）鼻を鳴らして

2. それで話がおわったところではっきり断ったところ、「なぜ？たった今、興味を示したばかりじゃないですか」えらいことになってしまった。
My translation: "Then, when the pitch was over, when I firmly declined, [the salesman said] "Why? Just now you were interested, weren't you?" ... ??? ...
What does えらいことになってしまった refer to? I understand えらい means "great; excellent; admirable; remarkable, etc.", but I can't relate this to the context.

えらい originally came from Kansai dialect, meaning 大変な

3. 以後、いらないーなぜ、の申し問答が続き、もう出かけなければならいので、ようやく事切れたと思うも、「明日のこの時間ならいますか」執念が感じられるのだ。
I think the start of this means: "This 'I don't need it -- Why not?' exchange continued, until at last I thought I would end the conversation because I had to go out". Is that right so far?

I think... continued, part is correct.
The latter part is "Because I had to go out, (and by telling so to the salesman) I thought I managed to end the conversation, however,

Is 「明日のこの時間ならいますか」 the salesman saying "Can I call again at the same time tomorrow?"

The salesman asked "are you in at this time tomorrow?"

Is 執念が感じられる something to do with the writer perceiving the salesman's stubbornness?

執念 is more like "not give up easily". Yes, the writer got this feeling about the salesman.

 

[eeky]

Thank you.

In えらいことになってしまった, what is is the "えらいこと"? Is it just the fact that the salesman said 「 なぜ？たった今、興味を示したばかりじゃないですか」?

If you have time, is there any chance you could clear up the remaining question at my other recent thread?

 

[Mike Cash]

えらいことになった is sort of idiomatic.

"But just a second ago you were interested..."

(Oh crap, now I've done it) or (Now I've gone and stepped in it) or some such feeling as that is what is being conveyed here. Note that this is something the speaker is thinking to himself, not something he is saying to the caller.

The speaker is lamenting his inability to brusquely tell salesmen on the phone to just bugger off, and that sort of personality also prevents him from backing his way out once he has (intentionally or not) displayed any interest in the salesman's pitch. Hence the thought of えらいことになった, arising from his awareness of his own weakness in handling these situations and his having said something which encourages the salesman, thereby making the speaker feel obligated to buy something. And this all feeds back into why he suggests just never answering the phone during the hours that telephone marketers call.

Of course, in this age of caller ID when we can know who is telephoning before we answer the advice seems a bit out of date.

A further real-life example of the idiomatic use of えらい:

Long long ago my poor old mother-in-law when still a young woman was out working in the rice fields when she suddenly suffered a miscarriage. Not a pleasant thing in any circumstances, but there she was way out in the country, standing in a dirty field in her work clothes when it happened.

As reported to me by my wife, her mother's brief summation of the situation was: えらい目に遭った (which is practically British in understatement).

 

[eeky]

Thanks Mike.

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