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~させていただきます

The7thSamurai

Master of the Universe
4 Feb 2005
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Me again! This time I have a question about causative verbs + itadakimasu. Now, I understand that it means "please allow me to", however, a lot of the English translations that I've been reading, for whatever reason, don't seem to stick with the literal version. For example:

「12月25日はクリスマスのためお休みさせていただきま す」 is translated to "Please be advised that we will be closed on Dec. 25th for Christmas." So, am I right to assume that the literal translation is something like "for the sake of Christmas, please allow us to take a break on the 25th of December"?

Likewise, 「喜んでお手伝いさせていただきます」 was translated to "we are happy to assist you". However, I'm thinking that the literal meaning is "please let us happily assist you".

And lastly, 「注文はキャンセルさせていただきます」 was translated to "we would like to cancel our order", but the literal is "please let us cancel our order", right?

Now before anyone jumps at me and orders me not to think so literally, just let me say that I'm only asking all this so I can get a feel for whom "itadakimasu" is directed at. The translations were messing with my head a bit.

And one last question if I may. In this "please let me" situations, what other words can replace いただきます? I know ください is one. And maybe もらいます?

Ok, that's all for tonight, I promise! Gee I hope other people benefit from all my questions, don't want to seem like I'm leeching everyone's knowledge 😅

Source for the translations: http://www.alc.co.jp/index.html

Regards,

Bucko
 
Now before anyone jumps at me and orders me not to think so literally, just let me say that I'm only asking all this so I can get a feel for whom "itadakimasu" is directed at. The translations were messing with my head a bit.
店員が、客に対して使いますね。
「させていただく」「させていただけますか(ませんか)」という表現では, 実際相手に許しを請うわけではない場合でも敬語としては使うのですね。友達に「させてもらってもいい?」「させてもらうね。」といういい方は良く使うと思う。
😅
 
Me again! This time I have a question about causative verbs + itadakimasu. Now, I understand that it means "please allow me to", however, a lot of the English translations that I've been reading, for whatever reason, don't seem to stick with the literal version. For example:
「12月25日はクリスマスのためお休みさせていただきま す」 is translated to "Please be advised that we will be closed on Dec. 25th for Christmas." So, am I right to assume that the literal translation is something like "for the sake of Christmas, please allow us to take a break on the 25th of December"?
Likewise, 「喜んでお手伝いさせていただきます」 was translated to "we are happy to assist you". However, I'm thinking that the literal meaning is "please let us happily assist you".
And lastly, 「注文はキャンセルさせていただきます」 was translated to "we would like to cancel our order", but the literal is "please let us cancel our order", right?
I find nothing wrong with this. Even if it is just a way to be polite, it is nice to literally know how to be polite. In fact, I would argue that it is necessary if you really want to make the Japanese language "your own".
 
Likewise, 「喜んでお手伝いさせていただきます」 was translated to "we are happy to assist you". However, I'm thinking that the literal meaning is "please let us happily assist you".
"Please allow us to gladly assist you" sounds in English like a store clerk responding to a customer disagreeable enough to not care about being served with gladness but the literalness is there alright and can't really be argued with. :p
 
Literal translations don't work well when you want to convert from jpn to eng or vice versa. It's because the languages are fairly different (and also because there are just not that many people who are simultaneously proficient at both languages). As more and more people make the same mistakes in translating, people start to accept those mistakes as the norm.

Going back to your question, the more literal translation for お休みさせていただきます, IMHO, is "allow us to rest", instead of "please allow us to rest". "allow us to rest" is more of a statement, whether or not you accept it, they are gonna rest anyway. I think お休みさせてください is more to the line of "PLEASE allow us to rest". But if you want to be really picky, both are actually not technically correct honorific, since お休みする is technically a 謙譲語 (humble speech), so it should be better to just say "休ませていただきます" or "休ませてください(ませ)"。
 
Literal translations don't work well when you want to convert from jpn to eng or vice versa. It's because the languages are fairly different (and also because there are just not that many people who are simultaneously proficient at both languages). As more and more people make the same mistakes in translating, people start to accept those mistakes as the norm.
I think the intention of the OP was not doing it for the sake of translation, but rather just for understanding the dynamics of the Japanese language. In that spirit, I have nothing against this exercise.
 
You're right indeed, Mikawa Ossan. I was just trying to get my head around the way it all works.

Thanks everyone for the replies!
 
Literal translations don't work well when you want to convert from jpn to eng or vice versa. It's because the languages are fairly different (and also because there are just not that many people who are simultaneously proficient at both languages). As more and more people make the same mistakes in translating, people start to accept those mistakes as the norm.
Going back to your question, the more literal translation for お休みさせていただきます, IMHO, is "allow us to rest", instead of "please allow us to rest". "allow us to rest" is more of a statement, whether or not you accept it, they are gonna rest anyway.
"(Please) allow us to receive the pleasure of ..... (something we were going to do anyway)" I think best captures the spirit of the examples Bucko was working on. どちらにしても、英語にはない表現なので直訳するのは本当に難しいでしょうね。
 
I always liken 本日は休ませていただきます to something like "Thank you for not smoking" in English. It's just a politer way to say something. In the case of "本日は...", it's just a different, and more formal way to say "closed."
I think you'll find that there are a lot of these type expressions. Sometimes you just have to approach Japanese in a way that you capture the nuance without translating it into English in your head.
 
I always liken 本日は休ませていただきます to something like "Thank you for not smoking" in English. It's just a politer way to say something. In the case of "本日は...", it's just a different, and more formal way to say "closed."
I think you'll find that there are a lot of these type expressions. Sometimes you just have to approach Japanese in a way that you capture the nuance without translating it into English in your head.
そうですね。意味やニュアンスを頭の中で整理しなければならないですね。

いつも日本語脳と英語脳に切り替える努力するのが大変ですね。。。。 😅
 
When I would go home from work, I would always say as a joke,

"Mou kaesasete moraitain desu kedo...."

--> Please allow me to go home.
 
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