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A Japanese-addict friend of mine recently told me that a possible translation for "you're welcome" in Japanese was "mū", but I must admit I was a bit dubious about that since I had never seen it nor heard it. I looked it up and found no entries about it anywhere.

Is it a mistake?

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    "Japanese addict"... So a weeaboo, correct? It's likely she's misinformed as I've never heard this in all my time of studying.
    – Pleiades
    Jan 13, 2016 at 15:54
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    I have never heard "mū" as the meaning of "you're welcome". I think "you're welcome" is almost translated as どういたしまして. Jan 13, 2016 at 16:00

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Definitely a mistake. The only time I hear of むー is in comics where it's the sound effect for thinking (I think you use hmmm in English). So, my theory is this person heard a conversation like...

Akimori: I did your laundry for you.

Yamada: Hmmm...but I thought I asked Ken to do it.

And might have thought むー was "you're welcome" when it was just the person thinking about something, haha.

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    This むー is pronounced as a long 'm' sound, not as it's spelt. Of course, your answer still holds if they read such a conversation.
    – Angelos
    Jan 13, 2016 at 21:16
  • Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I mean, if it was a direct むう in speech or whatever then I would have no idea, haha. Jan 14, 2016 at 3:21
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    The sounds effect for thinking in Japanese are うーん,んー、んーと. I have never heard むー. Jan 14, 2016 at 6:06
  • It would seem you're right. thejadednetwork.com/sfx/search/… My bad... Hehe Jan 14, 2016 at 14:12
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It is possible if the individual/character answering is: male(most likely), stoic, non-talkative, old-fashion (think samurai-stereotype of old) answering a 'thank you' from someone. (Most novels I read with characters answering like this would fit this description).

Might be more of a うむ~ but it could be むー depending on the writer or character.

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    Great answer! Could not think of that one myself!
    – user4032
    Jan 14, 2016 at 2:30
  • I think samurai like you said say うむ but they don't say むー. Jan 14, 2016 at 15:14

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