My friend's parents are visiting from the States, and they wanted to go to an Easter service yesterday. So I took them to this church I sometimes go to that has simultaneous English translation. I never use it, but my friend(who speaks Japanese) did. She commented afterwards on how much longer the Japanese is than the English. Usually when I think about the length of the language it is because I'm trying to translate a three kanji word, which usually requires a sentence in English. I think of Japanese as being compact. But that's before you put honorifics and humblers in. And believe me, when you're talking to or about God, you add them like crazy. The Lord's Prayer practically doubles in length. I wonder about this language usage. There are some in the US that feel talking to God should be more like talking to a friend. I wonder if the Japanese could ever get around to saying their equivalent of "What's up God?" Somehow, I doubt it.
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