オットー：お誕生日おめでとう。
ミズエ：オツトー？ どこから電話しているの？
オットー：大阪から。
ミズエ：びっくりして、心臓がとまりそうよ。
Shinzoo Ga Tomarisoo
(Denwa de)
Otto: 0-tanjoobi omedetoo.
Mizue; Otto? Doko kara denwa shite iru no?
Otto: Osaka kara.
Mizue: Bikkuri shite, shinzoo ga tomarisoo yo.
(On the telephone)
Otto: Happy Birthday!
Mizue: Otto? Where are you calling from?
Otto: Osaka.
Mizue: You surprised me so. For a moment there I thought my heart was going to stop.
* * *
My birthday this year found me alone in Yamaguchi receiving birthday greetings by phone in the morning from first my daughters and then my younger sister. Outside it was lovely; trees on nearby mountains had begun to show their autumn colors and the smell of fragrant olive flower filled my room through an open window. I'd put Albinoni's Adagio on the stereo and was just sitting down to a cup of Earl Grey Tea when the phone rang. "Who could it be now," I wondered. It was, of course, Otto calling from Osaka. A young Austrian sculptor, we'd traveled in his car to Frankfurt and Amsterdam and visited the homes of some of his artist friends. The sudden call was really surprising.
Shinzoo ga tomarisoo is used when we are surprised by something. Since shinzo ga tomaru, by itself, means "to die," adding "-soo" is a must. "Soo" has various uses; here it indicates that external factors have been used to judge that something looks like it is "about" to happen i.e., ame ga furiso (it looks like it's going to rain), hana ga sakisoo (itlooks like the flower is about to blossom), ki ga taoreso (the tree looks like it's about to fall over).
Imagine you are rock climbing with but one rope to hold you if you fall. What if roopu wa ima ni mo kiresoo (the rope seems like it's ready to break at any moment)? Will you get to the top in time?
Expressions of emotion and feeling can also take the so suffix i.e., okorisoo (he looks like he's going to get angry), waraiso (she looks like she's about to laugh), nakiso (they look like they're going to cry).
Tsuma: Anata, musume ni nan'te yutta no. Nakisoo na kao wo shite ita wa yo.
Otto: Chotto chui shita dake da yo.
Wife: Honey, what on earth did you say to Kaori? She looked like she was ready to cry.
Husband: Oh, I just gave hera little warning.
Kimura: Kinoo no karaoke taikai doo deshita?
Kato: Buchoo no onchi no uta ni minna waraisoo ni natta kedo ne.
Mr. Kimura: How was that karaoke singing contest yesterday?
Mr. Kato: Well, the chief's off-key singing had us all ready to burst out laughing.
But when do people feel like their "heart is about to stop?" I asked some friends:
A. When my wife is off on a trip and I invite my girlfriend over and then my wife suddenly returns.
"Hontoo ni shinzoo ga tomarisoo" ("That really makes me feel like my heart is going to stop") ;
B. When driving a car and a child suddenly darts out. "...demo kodomo no shinzo wo tomenakute yokatta" ("but, fortunately, one cjoesn't end up hitting the child''/literally, making the child's heart stop) ;
C. When I drop an expensive Venetian glass. "Kowareta deshoo" ("It broke, didn't it." "lie. Kowarenakatta. Boku no shinzoo ga tomarisoo ni natta dake" ("No, it didn't. But my heart sure seemed like it was going to stop").
A person who can be surprised by nothing is shinzo no tsuyoi hito (a stronghearted person). The opposite is shinzo no yowai hito (a nerveless fellow).
Which one are you?