お言葉に甘えて= okotoba ni amaete (Mini Lesson #143)
「マギー先生お休みをとったらどうですか？」
= Maggie Sensei oyasumi wo tottara dō desuka?
= Maggie Sensei, why don’t you take a vacation?
「じゃあ、お言葉に甘えて旅行に行ってきます！」
= Jaa okotoba ni amaete ryokō ni itte kimasu!
=Then I will accept your nice suggestion and go traveling!
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Hi everyone!
I will teach you a polite and useful phrase today.
It’s,
お言葉に甘えて…
= Okotoba ni amaete
It is often translated as “If you insist..” “If you say so,” but the nuance is a bit different because the literal meaning is
I will let myself be spoiled with your kind words or I will let myself follow your nice words and the subject has to be the speaker.
•言葉 = kotoba = words, languages, what someone has said
→お言葉 (= okotoba) is a polite form
•に = ni = indirect object marker
•甘える = amaeru = to be spoiled, to be dependent on, to be indulged
→甘えて= amaete = being spoiled, being dependent on…
You say this when someone offers you something “verbally” or suggest something nice for you and you accept that offer saying
お言葉に甘えて
= Okotoba ni amaete
= I will accept your kind offer and.
Like in the picture above, someone told me to take a vacation. Sounds good to me! So I will follow the suggestion.
I finished the sentence with the consequence, 旅行に行く= ryokō ni iku = to go traveling
お言葉に甘えて旅行に行ってきます。
= Okotoba ni amaete ryokō ni itte kimasu.
=Then I will accept your nice suggestion and go traveling!/ Then I will go traveling if you insist.
But a lot of the time, we don’t finish the sentence and just say
お言葉に甘えて…
= Okotoba ni amaete…
= I will let myself take your nice advice and … (Literally: I will (let myself) be spoiled by your words.)
We sometimes prefer 曖昧表現= aimai hyōgen = vague expressions without saying something clearly.
It is a very polite and humble way to accept someone’s offer. It’s more polite than just saying
有り難うございます。
= Arigatougozaimasu.
= Thank you very much.
I will show you more examples,
A : 「これどうぞ受け取って下さい。」
= Kore douzo uketotte kudasai.
= Please take this as a gift.
B : 「こんな高いもの頂けません。」
= Konna takai mono itadakemasen.
= I can’t take such an expensive thing.
A : 「そう言わずにどうぞ、どうぞ！」
= Sou iwazu ni douzo, douzo!
= Oh don’t say that. Please take it.
B : 「そうですか？それではお言葉に甘えて（頂きます）。」
= Soudesuka ? Sore de wa okotoba ni amaete (itadakimasu).
= Are you sure? Well, if you insist. Thank you.
A : 「どうぞ温かいうちに召し上がって下さい。」
= Dōzo atatakai uchi ni meshiagatte kudasai.
= Please eat it while it’s hot.
B : 「どうもすみません。それではお言葉に甘えて（頂きます。）」
= Dōmo sumimasen. Soredewa okotoba ni amaete (itadakimasu).
= Thank you so much. If you insist…(I will eat it.)
A : 「もう遅いから今日はうちに泊まって行きなさい。」
= Mou osoi kara kyou wa uchi ni tomatte ikinasai.
= It’s late already so why don’t you stay over my house today.
B: 「御迷惑をおかけします。それではお言葉に甘えて(泊めて頂きます。）」
= Gomeiwaku wo okake shimasu. Soredewa okotoba ni amaete (tomete itadakimasu.)
= I am sorry to trouble you. Then I will let myself stay at your place following your nice offer.
(at work)
A : 「ここは僕がやっておくからもう帰っていいよ。」
= Kokowa boku ga yatte okukara mou kaette iiyo.
= I will take care of this so you can go home now.
B: 「本当ですか？すみません。それではお言葉に甘えて(帰らせて頂きます。）」
= Hontō desuka? Sumimasen. Soredewa okotoba ni amaete (kaerasete itadakimasu.)
= Really? Thank you. Then I will take advantage of your words (and go home).
マギー先生より = Maggie Sensei yori = From Maggie Sensei
お言葉に甘えて、明日からお休みを取って海外旅行に行ってきます！
= Okotoba ni amaete ashita kara oyasumi wo totte kaigairyokou ni itte kimasu!
= Taking advantage of your words, I will take a vacation and will abroad tomorrow.
質問やコメントに返事がしばらく出来ませんが、許してね。
=Shitsumon ya komento ni henji ga shibaraku dekimasen ga yurushitene.
= Forgive me in advance for not being able to respond to your questions or comments for a while.
私の休暇中、みんなはこのサイトで一生懸命勉強してね。
= Watashi no kyūkachuu minna wa kono saito de isshōkenmei benkyō shitene.
= Study hard, everyone while I am on vacation.
16 Responses to “お言葉に甘えて= okotoba ni amaete (Mini Lesson #143)”
Leave a Reply
@maggiesensei 
SprocketTalker on July 10th, 2011
Thank you, that was really useful! Also, do’t know if anyone’s said before, but this site works excellently in mobile version
Maggie on July 12th, 2011
@SprockerTalker
Yes, you can use it when someone insists on offering something.
Good to hear it works with your mobile!
heivazora on July 10th, 2011
ありがとう!! It helped me a lot! I just love these lessons! Greetings from Hungary!
Maggie on July 10th, 2011
@heivazora
Hello heivazora!! Thank you for visiting this site from Hungary!!!
Grace on July 1st, 2011
Thanks for your lessons Maggie sensei. They really help me.
(please excuse my English)
Enjoy you vacation and return safely home.
Best regards from Czech Rebublic
Grace
Maggie on July 2nd, 2011
@Grace
Thank you!! I’m very happy to read your comment! I’m having fun in France right now. I’d looove to visit Czech Republic one day,too!
アリナ on June 30th, 2011
Love this lesson!!有り難う。
Maggie on June 30th, 2011
@アリナ
Thank you for the comment! Will ,ake more interesting lesson when I come back!
Aki on June 27th, 2011
I miss u soooooo much already >.<…. T___T
no Super Basic Words, no tweets, no homework!!! (yes, I even miss sensei's homework!!)
gahhhh you better be having a lot of fun over there so this all is worth it… and come back soon!!!
<3
Maggie on June 28th, 2011
@Aki
Hi Aki! Miss you,too! Lots of love from France!
Mari on June 25th, 2011
A suggestion, at the end of each lesson, write the vocabulary used in the lesson.
Please consider my suggestion.
Thank you.
Maggie on June 28th, 2011
@Mari
Thank you for your suggestion. Since all my lessons are too long already I don’t think I can write all the vocabulary uses in the lesson. But at leas I will try to explain the vocab used in a core sentence.
寝ちゃま on June 25th, 2011
もういっぺんありがとう、先生ェ：）Hope you have a nice and safe trip^_^
Maggie on June 28th, 2011
@寝ちゃま
ありがとう!! I’m having a great time!
Amelie on June 24th, 2011
Thanks for the lesson, Maggie-sensei!
Have a safe trip. ^^
Maggie on June 28th, 2011
@Amelie Thank you! Amellie! Will be back in a week!