1

I'm reading Shin Chan and there's a situation I can't quite understand. His mother says they're going to the bank, and Shin Chan starts packing his toy. Then his mother says おもちゃはいいの!!おもちゃは and after that she says something about wondering what Shin Chan understands by 'bank'. Shin Chan runs away and brings back a knife. And his mother says, with a shocked look, where did you learn such a thing about banks?

I don't get why after saying おもちゃはいいの!!Shin Chan runs away to get something else. Isn't she saying that the toy is OK? From the context it seems that Shin Chan understands the toy is not something you would take to a bank.

Daniel
  • 1,859
  • 22
  • 33

1 Answers1

2

You are thinking in the opposite direction here, which I cannot blame you for doing.

In this context, 「おもちゃはいいの!」 means:

"You don't bring toys to the bank!"

In casual conversation, 「~~はいい」 often means "(something) is OK without ~~" or "(something) goes well without ~~".

Synonymous phrases include 「~~はいらない」, 「~~はなくて(も)いい」, 「~~はなしでいい」, 「~~は必要{ひつよう}ない」, etc.

Finally, if a store clerk asks you if you need a bag, you can say 「いいです」 to mean you do not need one. To be politer, you can say 「けっこうです」 instead. Either way, this is a usage of 「いい」 that quite a few J-learners would take to mean the exact opposite -- they would tend to think it means they want a bag if they said 「いいです」 in that situation.

See usage 3-イ here:

https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%A5%BD%E3%81%84-429975#E3.83.87.E3.82.B8.E3.82.BF.E3.83.AB.E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.B3.89