gum wrappers (Was: How many people know the prophecy?)

[Hitomi]

No: HPFGUIDX 90428

> Carol wrote:
> Probably one for each visit, so thirteen or fourteen, depending on
> when he made his first visit--twice that if he visits in summer, 
too.
> (I doubt that he visits more often than that. It would be pointless
> and very depressing. (Maybe it's Neville who gives his mom the gum,
> and she gives him the used wrapper back?)
> 
> Carol, who wants to know what "ohayo minna" means

Hitomi:
Hey Carol!  The gum wrapper thread has been beaten to death, I just 
think everyone agrees there's something funny about them.  Or maybe 
Neville just keeps them as a gift.  It does make you wonder though 
how much of Mrs. Longbottom's mind is still intact.  (And why would 
you give an unstable person gum, of all things?  Wouldn't plain 
candy - no hard candy - be better?)

'Ohayo' is a typical morning greeting.  Just as 'konnichiwa' is your 
general hello.  'Minna' means everyone/everybody.  '-san' is an 
honorific, reserved for strangers to familiar acquaintances.  Other 
words I think I have used: 'gomen' means sorry, 'gomen nasai' 
means "I'm very sorry."  'Ja ne' is goodbye, unlike 'sayonara' which 
most English-speaking people are familiar with, which actually means 
farewell.  Sorry if this has confused anyone, I have a tendency to 
think mostly in Japanese when home, my mother (mother - 'haha-yue,' 
or referred to as 'okaa-san'/'okaa-chan') understands English, she 
just doesn't like to use it.  Some words and phrases I never think 
in English, unless I remind myself to.  

I have Japanese versions of Harry Potter, though, which are a trip, 
because some slang and humor just don't translate well.  It's weird 
comparing them to the English originals.

~ Hitomi, whose name actually means 'iris,' like the part of the 
eye, not the flower, and who grew up speaking both languages