Today's Reading #020 "Mato wo eru"

Reference book: "Easy-to-Trip-Up Japanese" by Hiroaki Iima

Mato wo eru (Hitting the target).
I have always thought this was incorrect Japanese.

"You've hit the target"
Every time I saw someone write that, I would mentally retort, "
It's 'hitting the mark' (mato wo iru), isn't it?"

However, according to the author, who is a dictionary editor, this is not a misuse, but rather something that should be used differently depending on the context.

If you think, 'That's sharp!', you use 'iru' (shoot/hit). If you think, 'That's correct!', you use 'eru' (obtain/get).

It's something like that.

As for why the trend of calling it a 'misuse' grew, it is said that it spread through the media in the 1960s.

***

It is easy to claim legitimacy by saying, 'That is incorrect Japanese,' and everyone is prone to believing that 'my own way of using Japanese is the correct one'.

But, is my Japanese really correct?. Let me provide one more example introduced in this book.

In 2008, when then-Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda was encouraging the Japanese delegation for the Beijing Olympics, he offered these words.

"Please do your best (seizei ganbatte kudasai)"

From my perspective, these words sound like they have the following nuance:

"Well, it's probably impossible, but please do your best"

Many people of my generation, or younger, would likely feel the same way.

However, if you look up "seizei" in the dictionary, it says this.

In other words, what Prime Minister Fukuda said has two meanings,

"Please do your best within your capabilities"

or so it seems.

Thinking that "my Japanese is correct" is just an assumption; it is simply a matter of being accustomed to the Japanese of that era.

I felt that I must recognize that the Japanese I use to point out the usage of young people is also considered "incorrect usage" by the older generation.

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