Timeline for Difference between "fun" and "interesting"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
20 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Dec 27, 2013 at 2:57 | comment | added | Marthaª | The apocryphal Chinese curse of "May you lead an interesting life" wouldn't be nearly as much of a curse if interesting meant the same thing as fun. | |
| Dec 27, 2013 at 2:25 | vote | accept | krikara | ||
| Dec 27, 2013 at 2:23 | answer | added | Laura | timeline score: 0 | |
| Dec 26, 2013 at 9:14 | answer | added | Mari-Lou A | timeline score: 3 | |
| Dec 26, 2013 at 5:38 | answer | added | SF. | timeline score: 7 | |
| Dec 25, 2013 at 14:01 | comment | added | Damkerng T. | I'm not sure about the exact words in Japanese, but I believe that it is quite often in Japanese documentaries or TV dramas (through Thai translation) to hear a Japanese says... "One day, I thought [of fun], so I picked that book and read it." To me, it seems like almost always (as far as I observed from TV) that they must have a kind of amusing thoughts (about doing something) the moment just before they found themselves got interested in that something. I don't know if this helps. Just something I've observed. | |
| Dec 25, 2013 at 13:37 | comment | added | krikara | Chinese :) This is why language confuses me. | |
| Dec 25, 2013 at 13:35 | comment | added | user28567 | @krikara What is your native language, anyway? Your question and comments seem to rule out both English and Japanese. | |
| Dec 25, 2013 at 13:34 | history | edited | krikara | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Dec 25, 2013 at 13:33 | comment | added | krikara | @snailboat We can agree to disagree. From experience, native Japanese people cannot differentiate between fun and interesting. As for 面白い and 楽しい, (I've learned that) they both have the same meaning, encompassing both interesting and fun, but you cannot always use both interchangeably. Certain phrases only allow 面白い, others only allow 楽しい, and some sentences can use either one. | |
| Dec 25, 2013 at 13:28 | history | edited | krikara | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Dec 25, 2013 at 13:19 | comment | added | user28567 | @krikara When you posted your question, I assumed you were confused because both are commonly expressed with 面白い in Japanese. Interesting isn't expressed by 楽しい. | |
| Dec 25, 2013 at 13:15 | comment | added | krikara | @snailboat It's weird because when living in Japan, they all asked me what the difference was between interesting and fun. That one word for them is separated into two words for us. And even for us, it seems like it has its own similarities between the two. From Merriam Webster, interesting is defined as attracting your attention. And I think it is safe to say that anything fun also attracts your attention. | |
| Dec 25, 2013 at 13:02 | comment | added | user28567 | @krikara I really don't think English interesting is a good match for 楽しい. Interesting doesn't contain the meaning "fun" at all; it is definitely not a subset of "fun". | |
| Dec 25, 2013 at 13:00 | comment | added | krikara | @snailboat For the most part, fun and interesting uses the second word you described. For example if you want to say that book is interesting, you do use 楽しい. The first word does mean interesting, but also implies or emphasizes deep engagement. | |
| Dec 25, 2013 at 12:15 | answer | added | IQAndreas | timeline score: 0 | |
| Dec 25, 2013 at 11:45 | comment | added | user28567 | Interesting is closer in meaning to 興味深い, while fun is closer to 楽しい. | |
| Dec 25, 2013 at 11:25 | comment | added | Avner Shahar-Kashtan | Which dictionary did you consult? Their definitions are distinctly different in the ones I checked. | |
| Dec 25, 2013 at 11:21 | history | edited | Gigili | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Dec 25, 2013 at 10:08 | history | asked | krikara | CC BY-SA 3.0 |