夫「子供の誕生日祝いをしないんだって」
妻「だって、今年は全て自粛ってあなた言ったでしょ」
夫（すこしあきれて）「君は何でも真に受けるんだね」
Ma ni Ukeru
Otto: Kodomo no tanjoobi iwai wo shinai'n datte.
Tsuma: Datte, kotoshi wa subete jishuku'tte anata itta desho.
Otto: (Sukoshi akirete) Kimi wa nan demo ma ni ukeru'n da ne...
Husband: What's this about not celebrating the children's birthdays?
Wife: But, wasn't it you who said we were supposed to cut back on celebrating this year?
Husband: (A bit amazed) You always take everything so seriously.
* * *
To take what someone says at face value in spite of the fact that it was actually said partly in jest is referred to as ma ni ukeru.
This week's conversation finds a wife taking literally what her husband says about the need to avoid (literally, to restrain from) celebrations ("jishuku" to iu kotoba wo ma ni uketa). But the husband's "Kanai wa nan demo ma ni ukeru kara joodan mo iemasen yo" ("My wife takes everything so seriously I can't even tell jokes"), would itself be an example of something that shouldn't be taken literally; he really feels very thankful that his good Japanese wife does everything he asks.
Let's look a bit more closely at this week's conversation. The husband's "...datte?" is a colloquial way of saying "...da so desu ne" (literally, "...I've heard that") and is often used in conversations between friends, i.e. "Kondo hikkosu'n datte" ("Is it true you're moving?"). "Kekkon suru'n datte?" ("So you're getting married?"). Non-native speakers should be careful not to forget that since "datte" is written with a small hiragana tsu, it is pronounced with one extra beat to distinguish it from "d'ate." (Failure to make this distinction will mean the sentence is no longer posing a question. ) Note also the wife's "...itta desho," another way of saying "itta de wa arimasen ka" ("but wasn't it you who said that"). The wife uses it to emphasize that she feels her husband is to blame for what has happened.
The last few months of 1988, the last year of Showa, were full of expressions of "restraint" (jishuku) by the Japanese: Nissan changed one of its car commercials because the theme song (one of my favorites) included the phrase, "Minasan, ogenki desu ka," Suntory removed the word "tanjoo" (birth) from a commercial, festivals around the country were canceled, "parties" became "tsudoi" (meetings) , and department stores stopped selling osekihan (cooked rice and red beans) because it's often used in celebrations. No one knows who started it all but I'm sure I wasn't the only one surprised. I hope there weren't too many mothers who went so far as to cancel their children's birthday parties?
Perhaps you know someone who takes everything you say literally; someone who gets angry or cries even though you're only joking? Ano hito nan demo ma ni ukeru kara hanasu toki wa ki wo tsuketa hoo ga ii desu yo (You should be careful when you talk to them. They tend to take everything literally).
Imagine some employees respond to thier boss 'New Year's speech with, "Ee? Are joodan datta'n desu ka? Mina ma ni ukemashita yo" ("What? You mean he was joking? But everyone believed him"). It turns out the boss, trying to be cute, had said something to the effect that, "Well, since I'm getting a bit too old for this job, I think it's time I turned things over to someone younger." It also turns out the younger employees believed him! Boss: "Ano supiichi wo mina ga mani ukeru to wa omowanakatta" ("I never expected what I said in that speech to be taken literally"). An older employee to one of the younger ones: "Ma ni ukeru hoo ga warui yo. Of course the boss is not about to retire."
But who's worse? People who take things at face value (ma ni ukeru hito) or people whose "jokes" actually lead others to think they represent the truth? (ma ni uketakunaru joodan wo iu hito)?