How would one convey "get over it" in Japanese?

Question

As a foreigner in Japan, one has to get used to the fact that some Japanese will compliment you on things that are too mundane to really deserve mention. Like the fact that you can use chopsticks, eat sushi, say 「今日は」, and all that sort of thing.

Most of the time, it's harmless, and a mere stepping stone to genuine conversation.

But sometimes you'll meet that person who will just go on about it for a bit too long. They'll ask follow up questions, and keep the topic alive, blocking the potential to interact as more than just a gaijin novelty.

To those people, I want to say, "yeah, look, can we get past that?" Well... that would be the politer version (though obviously not devoid of a little frustration). Sometimes I just want to say "Get over it, will ya?"

I think the more or less literal translation for "get over it" would be:

[乗り切って]【のりきって】

First question is: Is that a suitable translation, or is it too literal in the sense of physically crossing something?

Next question: How would I, and could I, differentiate between "Get over it" (slightly stronger and a little more confrontational) and "can we get past this?" (a little softer but still conveying some annoyance).

Additional note 1: I'm okay with being a little confrontational on this, so please don't hold back on potentially stern suggestions for translation.

IMPORTANt: This is a language question about how to express a concept, this is not a question about how to socially handle an interaction. Answers should be about how to express the idea of "get over it" in the Japanese language. Answers about how you would come up with different responses or how you handle the given examples are off topic.

Answer 1

乗り切る doesn't quite fit here because it's about enduring through a hardship. With 乗り切る, wave(s) of difficulties come and go while you persevere, where as in "get over it," you need to overcome it yourself.

乗り越える, 克服する and 打ち勝つ do have the sense of actively overcoming some obstacle, and may work if you use it together with the right noun. I'll come back to it later.

My word of choice for expressing "getting past it" would be 卒業する, in the sense of outgrowing (wwwjdic's second definition for 卒業: (2) (col) outgrowing something; moving on):

もういい加減その話題からは卒業したら? Can you just "outgrow" that subject already? (most naturally found in a parent-to-child or friend-to-friend scolding)

Turning it into a shared problem can make it softer:

こういう話題からはそろそろ卒業しませんか? Shall we "outgrow" these kinds of subjects?

Note that 「卒業しませんか?」 as a set phrase is most commonly found in cheap-sounding ads, and may sound unnatural in a real conversation.

Other phrases that can get the point over include:

• 頭を切り替える switch one's mode of thinking
  • 「その点頭を切り替えてもらえるとうれしいです」 Would you change your way of thinking and stop dwelling on that point? (pretty condescending)
• 偏見/先入観 を乗り越える/を克服する/に打ち勝つ
  • 「あなたにはぜひともその先入観を乗り越えてほしいんです」I really hope you overcome that preconception of yours. (pretty condescending)

Answer 2

I don't think 乗り切って is a suitable translation in this case. It is too literal of a translation. It does not have to be physical, but it will mean 'to overcome something'.

Maybe you can start a different topic by

• それは置いておいて 'leaving that behind, ...'
• それはそうと 'while that is that, ...'
• ところで 'by the way'

If you want to be more direct, you can say

• それはもういいよ/いいから 'I had enough of that'
• しつこいよ 'You are persistent'

Answer 3

I really like Sawa's "しつこいよ".

I would say (and happen to say) things like:

もういい

I've had enough of this

おはしが上手だって当たり前だよ。あんた、フォーク使えるのと同じだろう？！

Of course I can use chopsticks! Can't you use a fork?

外国に行ったら、それぐらいみんなできるよ。知らないの？ええ？！

Didn't you know that every one abroad is capable of that? I can't believe it!

どうでもいいから、話変えてくれないか？

Great. Can't we talk about something else now?

But be warned. Those are a lot ruder that they may seem to a westerner…

Answer 4

This article suggests that one can use 「ごちそうさま」to indicate that one is tired of hearing about a subject. However, I have not been able to verify that it applies to your case; it may only apply when one is bored of hearing the other person brag. I'll try and research some more.

Answer 5

Pretty late to the party, but something that I've used to pretty great effect is turning those situations around on the person.

Start off with a bit of:

• 当たり前でしょ？
• 当然でしょ？

Which conveys the feeling of "Duh" or "Well of course..."

Then you just follow it up with a bit of "もうX年間日本に住んでいるので、それをできないとおかしいでしょ?"

For the chopsticks or meaningless compliments about really simple Japanese, sometimes a 「まあ、難しくないからね。。。」is sufficient.

Answer 6

How about the ever popular 仕方がない?

Answer 7

I would just do the same thing I do in English, which is just abruptly change the topic. To change the topic, you can use words such as 因みに ("Incidentally...") and ところで ("By the way..."). I would try not to get confrontational with Japanese people, especially older people who are more likely to engage in this conversation topic with you; they appear difficult to upset, but being too direct/forceful/rude is very bad.

Another approach if you just want to end the conversation and not change the topic is to start saying そうですね over and over again. Eventually they'll wind themselves out of things to talk about and end the conversation naturally.