LogFAQs > #956200806

Stalolin posted...

What the hell is Keigo?

Japanese has different levels of honorific speech, collectively known as keigo. In order from lowest to highest (in both honorific level and difficulty of use) they're polite (teineigo), respectful (sonkeigo) and humble (kenjougo). Colloquially the word "keigo" is often used to refer just to the latter two because of how common and simple the first form is. Which one you use depends on factors like intimacy (you don't use keigo with family or close friends), age (be polite to your elders) and the relative social status of the people speaking (be respectful to customers because the customer is god).

Respectful speech is used to speak highly of another person and humble speech is about speaking poorly of oneself. In practice it's about using rare words and complicated forms of old-fashioned grammar which makes them almost seem like a whole other language, which is why it's so difficult. Businessess in Japan usually teach employees keigo, and if you don't use it when you're supposed to you can expect to lose your job.