On the range minimising Imposition in various contexts --- W.r.t minimising imposition, Japanese culture extends this paradigm even further. Generally speaking, even when suggesting a new idea/disagreeing/etc..., regardless of how sure you actually are, one must say "I think", or "I'm not sure" throughout the sentence(s). Whereas in many Western contexts, being confident (and being somewhat imposing) about certain subjects can inspire confidence in the other person, in Japan doing so can have the opposite effect. This is just one example (that I am familiar with), but I'm curious to how far "minimising imposition" extends towards politeness in various cultures....

Source author: Mamta Reid liveandsmile@hotmail.com