At work the other day, I heard a male coworker use boku when talking to another coworker, but when he talked to me, he switched to ore. Why would this be? I was under the impression that people picked their preferred word for "I" and stuck with it, is this incorrect? Do people switch depending on context? Is boku more polite? I thought boku was used by younger men, I didn't think it had polite or impolite connotations.
Thanks for your help!
by 234561098
3 comments
Boku is more polite and more humble. If you refer to yourself as ore when talking to someone, you are putting yourself in a superior position in relation to that person. The pronouns you use are situation dependent. You shouldn’t use ore with your boss, but with friends and (maybe, I’m not japanese, so I’m not sure) it’s acceptable with coworkers who are of a lower ranking the a you
Your coworker probably is, or at least thinks he is above you in some way. It’s not necessarily meant to be disrespectful or anything. Maybe he’s worked there longer or maybe he’s older than you by a bit. Japan is big on social heirarchy and different pronouns reflect that. At least he didn’t call you omae.
Also, ore can sometimes be used among friends who are comfortable with each other. Maybe he thinks he’s just super cool with you.
Hello, I’m a native Japanese. Boku is more polite. For example, I don’t use Ore to my boss. I use Boku instead of using Ore. When I talk with a very important business partner, I use Watashi. In schools, I think students use Boku or Zibun to call themselves instead of using Ore when they have a conversation with their teacher.