Over the last month, I’ve been texting daily with someone I met during my recent trip to Japan. We’ve only used casual language but today, she called me (name) 氏 whereas she has used 君 before. We spoke on the phone two days ago and she referred to that today as お喋りした, which I believe is the polite form of the verb?
Signs don’t seem to be there that she’s upset (ie. quick replies, sends long messages, etc.) but to my understanding, a shift from casual to keigo can mean you’ve done something to upset a native speaker. I know it’s impossible to be sure without asking the person directly, but does this typically mean something negative from a language/cultural standpoint, or am I mistaking the context?
Thank you for any help.
2 comments
Just ask her. It’s not like that it’s a delicate topic or anyhting
お喋り may look formal, but it’s actually not – like お茶 or お金, it’s one of the words that just includes お because it’s so commonly said that way.
氏 … yes, this is formal, but it’s used mostly in writing or like, when talking about someone in the third person. When talking *to* (not *about*) someone, I feel like something else (さん or 様 or 先生 or something) would be more normal. Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand somehow?
Edit: in general. “Upset” isn’t necessarily wrong, but it can be less “angry” and more “wanting to place distance” between you.