みずえ「胸にシコリがあるの。癌じゃないかしら。きっと私の命もあと数年だわ」
ひろし「死ぬなんて大袈裟だよ。それに胸の癌は助かる率が高いんだから心配しない方がいいよ」
Oogesa
Mizue: Mune ni shikoriga aru no. Gan ja nai kashira. Kitto watashi no inochi mo ato suunen da wa.
Hiroshi: Shinu nante oogesa da yo. Sore ni mune no gan wa tasukaru ritsu ga takai'n dakara shinpai shinai hoo ga ii yo.
Mizue: I have a hard lump on my breast. Could it be cancer? I probably have only a few more years to live.
Hiroshi: Dying? Comeon, that's going a bittoo far. People with breast cancer have a high recovery rate, anyway so I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.
* * *
Oogesa refers to giving something the appearance
of being much more difficult, beautiful, intelligent, etc., than it actually is.
Imagine that while taking a shower I become quite worried because I feel a hard lump on my breast; it's as if a small stone is under my skin. I confide about it to a friend who makes me feel better when she replies. "Oogesa ni kangaeru koto wa nai" ("There's no need to take things that far"). My daughters, however, see things differently. "Sukoshi oogesa ni kangaeru gurai no ho ga ii wa yo" ("It's probably better to exag- gerate things a bit): You might really have cancer. The faster you get to a hospital and have things checked, the better." And if the tests are positive and I do have cancer, I'll announce to my friend, "Ne, watashi oogesa ja nai desho" ("I wasn't exaggerating, was I?"). My friend will then probably apologize with something like, "They really said it was cancer? Oogesa nante itte warukatta ne" ("It was wrong of me to have said you were exaggerating"). Of course, instead of this scenario, the following one is to be preferred - Me: "The test on that lump was negative," H: "Really? That's great! Kimi wa nan demo oogesa nikangae sugiru'n da yo." ("You're just always blowing everything up all out of proportion.")
One of my friends really is high-flown and is always making a "mountain out of a molehill." If she's anywhere even slightly high, she makes grandiose gestures of being afraid (oogesa ni kowagaru). She's in her 30s mind you! And even though elderly people are crossing the bridge with no trouble,. She still shouts out, "I'm so afraid!" and refuses to cross. She just lets things get way out of hand (oogesa sugiru).
Have you ever heard of the word burikko? It refers to a girl who, though actually knowing something, shiranaifuri (pretends not to know) : a girl who, though actually not afraid, knows pretending to be afraid (kowaifuri wo sum) is the best way to attract a man's attention. In other words, instead of adult women who have their own ideas and thoughts, Japanese men find woman who are weaker and less intelligent to be "cuter." They can then take a superior attitude. Perhaps this is why a woman in her 30s with her own job and views about life and work will oogesa ni kowagatte miseru (stretch things and let people think she is really, really, afraid). She knows that the men around her will then worry and ask her if she's all right.
Maybe you too know someone who is pretentious and always exaggerating (oogesa na hito).