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I often see ですな used in social text posts.
Examples:

こんにちわ、あついし、ひまですな。

いいてんきですなw

A Google search for "ですな" does not show me any explanation.

Here is how I understand ですな in such context:

  • Humourously "aristocrat"-sounding.
  • Auto-derision of fake deepness.

Am I getting it right?

Why would someone use "ですな" rather than not use it?
What nuance does it give to the sentence?

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  • ある大正時期の小説で、外国人の貴族は「ですな」をよく言っています。
    – ネーム
    Mar 12, 2017 at 14:09

1 Answer 1

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ですな is a version of ですね and is decidedly masculine speech for males over 40 (would go well with わし, for example, but can be used on the internet as a joke by anyone, of course).

There is also

いい天気ですの

or, even better,

いい天気じゃの

which is even stronger than ですな in the sense that it would really only be used by males over 60.

The ageless equivalent is ですね in all cases.

P.S.: ~ますな has the same nuance as ~ですな, whereas plain form + な is decidedly less restrictive. 食べたいな, 面倒くさいなぁ, よく食べるな, etc. can be used by anyone, regardless of gender or age.

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  • So my understanding was totally wrong I guess... Sep 14, 2012 at 5:03
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    だな, yes, but ですな?
    – Earthliŋ
    Sep 14, 2012 at 6:26
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    @user1205935: Sorry but I assume いい天気ですの & いい天気じゃの are also speech used by men >40 but what are their "normal" equivalents?
    – Tim
    Sep 14, 2012 at 8:20
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    @user1205935: well, if one can say だ, one can say です, no?
    – Axioplase
    Sep 18, 2012 at 6:15
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    @Axioplase Sure, grammatically one is just the polite version of the other. Still, the nuance of だな is different from the nuance of ですな...
    – Earthliŋ
    Sep 18, 2012 at 6:44

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