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滅相もない Messou mo nai It’s a phrase used to negate a compliment from someone or decline someone’s kind offer strongly but politely, all for the sake of expressing modesty. 滅相 Messou refers to the fourth stage of existence in Buddhist belief: 1. 生相 Shousou = birth 2. 住相 Jyusou = preservation (sorry, I said “growth” in the video) 3. 異相 Isou = change 4. 滅相 Messou = death/end Death is the most unfavorable state for us humans, so when somebody says Messou no nai, in response to a compliment or a kind offer, it means, “that shouldn’t be true” or “that shouldn’t happen.” An alternative phase with th same intent is とんでもないことです “Tondemo nai kotodesu.” Hi, I’m Kyota, the author of Amazon Best Sellers [Folk Tales of Japan] and [Underdogs of Japanese History]. Please check out my books at ☺️:
