Continuing with the mixed bathing theme, this time we’re taking a look at some light-hearted surveys into couples who visited an onsen together. Read what they had to say!
First up though, here’s another example of an advertisement:
この旅館、高かったでしょ？
このりょかん、 たかかった でしょ？
This ryokan was expensive, wasn’t it?
And also:
（実は半額以下だったなんて、言えない）
じつは はんがく いか だった なんて、 いえない
(I can’t tell her that I actually got it for even less than half price…)
Some clever little marketing tricks being used here, as well as some fine Japanese. In the first phrase, we have a very simple sentence. The でしょ？ part at the end is the shortened form of でしょう and in this case means ‘right?’ It’s often used this way in casual speech at the end of a sentence to ask a question that one thinks they know the answer to. Here then. the lovely lady is asking us (presumably a guy) if the ryokan was expensive, implying that it probably was and we must be loaded. Gold digger? Hmm…
The second phrase is a little harder. 実は means ‘actually’ and is used like this at the beginning of a sentence when one is going to break some news or tell the truth (etc.) It has a trailing feeling to it, like the … at the end of sentences. ‘Actually, I…’ だったなんて combines the casual form of でした with なんて. なんて shows emotion or emphasis, adding some punch the preceding words. Here it’s ‘lower than half price’ – by adding なんて we might change the sentence to ‘even less than half price’ – really emphasising that the price was low.
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