Looking to some help with explanation of “そんなもんじゃいいんだけど” and why this was used and not “そんなもんじゃないんだけど”

5 comments

1. じゃ = では

   First sentence says ではいい not ではない

2. It’s そんなものでいいのだけど not じゃない, he’s saying something like “I guess you could call me a 芸能人 but…” “Yeah I’m a 芸能人 but it’s not all that…” He’s being humble about it

3. Maybe I’m crazy but I’m like 90% sure he IS saying そんなもんじゃないんだけだ and the な just isn’t very audible because of the recording quality and the way he said it.

4. It may be a little difficult to hear, but he is indeed saying “そんなもんじゃ**ないん**だけど”. The phrase, “そんなもんじゃいいんだけど,” doesn’t come up much in everyday conversation.

   (1) This is probably a peculiarly euphemistic and humble expression, perhaps influenced by Confucian thought. Even if you are a famous celebrity who occasionally appears on terrestrial television. in such conversations and interviews, you do not normally claim to be a “celebrity,” but rather you dare to deny it. This is because if one proudly claim, “I am a celebrity,” people will ask, “Then how big of a celebrity are you?”, one is afraid of being socially criticized, such as “Someone like you is not such a big celebrity, you know, you are *****.” Also, note that the denial is soft and gentle, with a series of euphemisms such as “そんなもん – じゃない – ん – だけど”.

   This kind of euphemistic modesty should not be used in serious situations, such as when being interviewed by the police or when being asked about your occupation at government offices, customs, airports, and so on. On the contrary, they will think, “Are you kidding me?” It is only used to soften the mood in everyday conversation or in an izakaya (Japanese pub) with the essence of modesty.

   (2) Try to grasp the nuance in the following Japanese discussion.

   [https://okwave.jp/qa/q8845486.html](https://okwave.jp/qa/q8845486.html)

   One should use “お父さん” carefully in everyday situations, because it would be a shock, to a greater or lesser degree, to a single person or a father who has just lost a child. It would be safer to use “Excuse me” as the first call when speaking to a complete stranger and not assume the other person’s attributes, even in Japan.

   Even in English, there seems to be some debate about addressing a man as “Mr.”.

   [https://www.reddit.com/r/socialskills/comments/bixlu6/is_it_odd_to_call_men_you_dont_know_as_mister/](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialskills/comments/bixlu6/is_it_odd_to_call_men_you_dont_know_as_mister/)

5. He’s basically saying そんなもんじゃない（無い）んだけど（〜そんなものではないのだけど）, NOT そんなもんじゃいい（良い）んだけど. If I try to write what I’ve heard more realistically as a native speaker, I write as そんなもんじゃにいんだけど (of course, this is not a standard way of writing).

   ない is often pronounced as ねえ in an informal, rough way (mostly by men). In some local accents, the pronunciation of え and い gets similar or sometimes indistinguishable. Possibly this affects his pronunciation (ない>ねえ>にい).

   Calling a stranger お父さん or お母さん is somewhat similar to calling a customer sir or ma’am, but in a very casual way. I can imagine a friendly middle-aged shop owner in a local market saying so. Anyway, I feel like it is getting more unacceptable, like “I’m not your father” or “Do I look old enough to have a child?” Better to avoid using them.