Eggs figuring out the best way to make a username using their birth name or assigned gender to maximize the amount of problems for their future self:
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[–] 16 points 1 month ago (8 children)

From the perspective of an international audience, the name sounds fairly unisex. Is it actually gendered in your own language?

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  • [–] 12 points 1 month ago (7 children)

    Parents were white Americans on an Air Force base in rural Japan. They gave me an Irish boy’s name that would be reasonably smooth in katakana. I transitioned to female at 28, kept it, pronunciation and spelling (タニス) and all. A lot of people think my last name is Japanese too, but it isn’t. I’m not sure where it came from. I learned English when I moved to America when I was 11. Most people don’t know I can speak Japanese from looking at me.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (6 children)

    And given that you grew up with Japanese you probably speak it quite well, to the surprise of most Japanese.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago* (5 children)

    Yeah, fairly well, but it stunted when I was eleven, cause I had to learn English. Even now at 41, I’m actively studying both languages. I have a trip to Tokyo in January, and I’m dreading getting the old 日本語上手 from people who look at me and think I can’t speak.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (4 children)

    Generous of you to assume I even read katakana. Hiragana? Anyway deepl translates it as "proficient in Japanese" from Chinese, interestingly. But maybe that's just them trying to tell them apart.
    So I read that people asking you if you understand them in a language you might not understand?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    日本語上手 is often said to non-Japanese people with a bit of sarcasm, sadly.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    You could let them believe you don't understand and later let them know you actually do when it stings.

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