照れ屋さん means "a shy person", but I don't understand why there's a さん. When I googled it I saw the usage of さん was nearly universal, but Google didn't say why.
Asked
Active
Viewed 200 times
1
-
1Related https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/14618/1628 and https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/16049/1628 – Earthliŋ May 14 '20 at 21:07
-
2Does this answer your question? Is "お寿司屋さん" personification? – ConMan May 15 '20 at 02:16
1 Answers
1
What do you mean by "name is shy"? 照れ屋さん means "a shy person" as a whole.
屋 is a suffix with various meanings, one of which is "person who tends to do ～" or simply "-er". Examples:
- 照れ屋: a shy person
- 頑張り屋: a hard worker
- 寂しがり屋: someone who gets lonely easily; someone who cannot stand alone
- 気取り屋: a smug person
- 分からず屋: a stubborn/hardheaded person
This -さん has little to do with the meaning, but it is making the ～屋 word sound more friendly and/or prettier. Please see the links in the comment section. (It's not usually used with derogatory words like 気取り屋.)
naruto
- 313,860
- 13
- 324
- 625
-
I don't understand why for example " Naruto-chan is a shy person" needs to be made friendlier and prettier?
Why this adjective and not others?
– Can't Read May 15 '20 at 07:55 -
2@Can'tRead English also has suffixes used solely to make a word sound "cute". For example "-ie" as in "doggie" is an example (see this). 君は照れ屋だね may sound a little negative, but 君は照れ屋さんだね sounds friendlier and gentler. – naruto May 15 '20 at 08:05