Re: [Lingo] 悪党ども、海賊ども

["Birkir A. Barkarson" <birkirb@example.com>]

Josh Glover wrote:
> The way this tends to work in Japanese (except for highly technical
> writing) is that you try--for aesthetic reasons--to keep kana and
> kanji pretty balanced. So if the context is kanji-dominated, you would
> go with the kana version of とも・ども, and vice versa.
> 
> Same deal with things like ください 対 下さい

So far it has been my impression that the kana vs kanji problem has more
to do with your position than aesthetics.  Using kanji for words that
are often written in kana can be construed as you wanting to imply you
are more educated or of an otherwise higher social standing than the
person you are addressing. As in "I know that the kanji for this phrases
is this, don't you?". Like using 何処 for どこ、can go from being overly
formal to just being a smart-ass.  Both of which might be appropriate
depending on context.
Looking at the ください vs 下さい it should be clear that ください might
be a request while 下さい would be closer to being a command (again, how
close would depend on context). While aesthetics can certainly play a
part in the kanji vs kana choice one would probably be better served
being aware of other factors as well. :)

BAB