Vagueness in Japan

I've written many times about how the Japanese language can be vague and imprecise, with chunks of meaning often left out. One example common in anime might be a boy who confesses his love for a girl by saying suki desu, literally "[I] love [it/you]" with both the subject and object omitted. Usually the meaning would be clear, but then the boy loses his nerve and adds the word "...ramen" to his statement, so that now he has just said that he likes noodles instead. Another example of Japanese being too vague for their own good is the use of pronouns to stand for words which aren't entirely clear. The location-based pronouns in Japanese are kore (koh-rey, "this one"), sore (soh-rey, "that one, near you") and are (ah-rey, meaning "that one over there, farther away"). Many Japanese will say something like, "What shall we do about 'that'?" using the word are, but it's quite easy for others to not understand and have to ask for clarification. The word for people who use these unclear pronouns too much is are-byo, literally meaning "That" Sickness.

If you haven't seen it, the independent film Fumiko's Confession is pure genius. Enjoy.