“Mottainai” – it’s a feeling of regret over waste.
from Oral English Conversation Practice with ChatGPT
I wrote a lot of thoughts in Japanese, but if I wrote such ideas in Japanese, the global people can’t see my thoughts. It is very… I mean… Mottainai?
“Mottainai” – it’s a feeling of regret over waste, right? Like you have valuable thoughts in Japanese, but if they’re not translated, it feels like a waste because others can’t see them. Does that capture what you’re feeling?
Yes, yes, that’s right. Such kind of words from Japanese culture are sometimes useful for the global people.
Definitely, words like “mottainai” can be very expressive and useful globally.
This page is auto-translated from /nishio/Mottainai using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I’m very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.