Rob van Riel wrote in news
an.2008.03.12.08.51.31.718000
@mail.com:
On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 05:53:15 -0700, ~^ beancounter ~^ wrote:
UPDATE 03.11.08 0230 EDT: "Konichiwa, domo arigato and banzai!" Those
were the words of STS-123 Commander Dominic Gorie, after NASA mission
Why was he babbling quasi Japanese in the first place?
As for the WFT bit in the subject line, 'banzai' roughly translates to
'long live whatever implied subject', the sort of thing used for
birthdays and other significant celebrations (you might want to check with
someone who really knows Japanese for a proper translation). Of course, it
also got used as a war cry with the emperor as the subject, but that is
not uncommon with such phrases.
Rob
Konichiwa, domo arigato, and banzai! = (respectively) Good day, thank you
very much, and a traditional Japanese exclamation meaning "Ten thousand
years"
Dave in Sandy Eggo