# いただきます, ごちそうさまでした



## twin78

My Japanese book says いただきます is a phrase used before one eats, and ごちそうさまでした is one used after meal is over. What I hate about this book is, it never really say what they mean literally. It just says, you say this in this situation. But I want to_ know_ what they _mean, _literally, whether or not they are meant to be conveyed in actual situation. I comes down to just a curiosity, I guess. But can anyone help me? Thanks!

kwan


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## Aoyama

Many Japanese expressions have a word to word meaning that is different from the actual meaning that is used in daily speech. This is especially true for "polite" expressions like いただきます（頂きます）、（ごちそうさまでした）ご馳走様でした、すみません etc.
いただきます literally means "to receive" from top to bottom (頂く、頂き= summit of a mountain/山上). Japan being a feodal society (even now), "position" or "rank" is very important and determining one's position (in regard to others) is essential.
Food for thought :
いただく　to receive (top to bottom)
もらう（貰う） to receive (equal stance)
for （ごちそうさまでした）ご馳走様でした, this expression is formed with"ateji" ...


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## Ocham

ごちそう(ご馳走） means "gorgeous dinner or lunch." 馳(chi) originally means
"to ride a horse" and 走 (sou) "to run", in other words, "to ride to a market
and buy best food to prepare excellent cuisine."

examples of ご...様でした:
ご馳走(chisou)様でした thank to a person who has cooked
ご愁傷(shushou)様でした a condolence to a bereaved family
ご苦労(kurou)様でした thank to a person who has worked


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## Flaminius

> いただきます is a phrase used before one eats, and ごちそうさまでした is one used after meal is over


These are the idiomatic functions of the two phrases.  The etymology has been explained by other posters, so I think I should concentrate on their meanings in a plainer context.

いただきます: いただく is "to eat" with deference to the provider of the food.  If you say いただきます, you show gratitude for the food that you are about to eat.  The expression is not only for "big shots."  They would also say いただきます to their subordinates who offer them a meal if they have some kind of decency.  

ごちそうさまでした: It has been a feast.  Whether the food was really a feast or not matters little; it is another word of appreciation.


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## Aoyama

> いただきます: いただく is "to eat" with deference to the provider of the food. If you say いただきます, you show gratitude for the food that you are about to eat. The expression is not only for "big shots." They would also say いただきます to their subordinates who offer them a meal if they have some kind of decency.
> 
> ごちそうさまでした: It has been a feast. Whether the food was really a feast or not matters little; it is another word of appreciation.


That is very true and worth noticing. In Japanese, _you thank the person who gives you the food _(so to speak).
I am often asked how to translate in Japanese the expression "bon appétit !" which is different and which does not really exist in Japanese (unless you could compare it to どうぞ召し上がってください).
Here いただきますor ごちそうさまでした are both used by _the one_ _about to eat_ or _having eaten _the food he/she has received/been treated for.
It is "the other way round" ...


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## twin78

Thank you all for the helpful explanations!


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## Flaminius

One more thing about いただきます:

On the cutting edge of the idiomatic use  , it is used as a signal to declare that one is starting to eat.  In the Japanese culture it comes across rude to start eating without acknowledgement for people you are sitting with.  You may be the first one to be served with food at the restaurant while others are still waiting for their orders.  If they tell you to please go ahead and bolt down, you would thank them and say, "ありがとうございます。それでは、いただきます."

Even if your group have decided to wait for everyone to get her order, いただきます is necessary.  The idea is to make sure you all start eating at the same time.  *Ao* may find here a remnant of feudalism since the origin of this custom is apparently not to start eating before one's superior does.

The same ethos may apply to the rituals of leaving the table but ごちそうさまでした is more closely associated with the appreciation of the food served.  If someone invites you, ごちそうさまでした is a mandatory social protocol. One may tell this to the restaurant staff if the food is really good.  I wouldn't say ごちそうさまでした to my colleagues, however, when I have lunch with them at a cafeteria.


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## twin78

Ocham said:


> ごちそう(ご馳走） means "gorgeous dinner or lunch." 馳(chi) originally means
> "to ride a horse" and 走 (sou) "to run", in other words, "to ride to a market
> and buy best food to prepare excellent cuisine."
> 
> examples of ご...様でした:
> ご馳走(chisou)様でした thank to a person who has cooked
> ご愁傷(shushou)様でした a condolence to a bereaved family
> ご苦労(kurou)様でした thank to a person who has worked



Is the ご in front of 馳走 a respectful prefix? Why is it not written as a Kanji? Or does it have a meaning, too? And what about さま? Is it just an indicative pronoun for ご馳走?

Thanks!


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## Aoyama

ごis as you correctly said a "respectful prefix". It could be written 御 but here usage prefers the simpler ご, though you might see it written in kanji in old texts.
さま（様）literally means "a person", it is a kind of "polite ending" (for lack of a better term, Flam - or someone else- will surely come with a better explanation) for all these "given" sentences (related to _thanking _or _expressing feeling _to someone).


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## Flaminius

> And what about さま? Is it just an indicative pronoun for ご馳走?


I am not sure what you mean by "indicative pronoun" but I assume you understand that さま relates ご馳走 with one's interlocutor.  Yes, as *Ao* said above, さま is a polite ending.  It is usually used as a suffix to the name of a person but here it expresses that the modified noun ご馳走 is possessed (I lack a better word here) by your interlocutor.  Recognition of her "ownership" is the basis of an attitude to treat (or handle, or refer to) the object with respect that is due to her.


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## twin78

I see. Thanks, Flaminius!


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