Bikkuri shita, benkyō ni narimashita, uso!
(Suggested answers)

BIKKURI SHITA!
If somebody gives us a sudden shock, typical responses in English might include:

• Oh! You gave me a fright!
• Oh, you made me jump!

Stronger expressions, for a bigger shock, might include:

• Don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!
• You scared me half to death!
• You scared the life out of me!

We wouldn't normally say: "Oh, I was surprised!" in this type of situation.

BENKYŌ NI NARIMASHITA!
Some typical ways of saying this in English might include:
That's interesting, I've learned something.
Well, that's something I didn't know.

USO!
Lie and liar are strong words in English. The Japanese exclamation, "Uso!" is probably best expressed with phraseslike these:

• Oh, come on!
• You're joking!
• You're kidding!

We hope that you've enjoyed this week's lesson. There are plenty more one-point lessons on this website. Please click on the link below if you want to try some of them:
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© Robert E. Jones, 2004