I've finally figured it out... "Gambatte" REALLY means "Suck it up."

It came to me in a flash just the other day, as I said "Gambatte" to yet another person for what seemed to be the millionth time since I've been in Japan... what it really means.

Gambaremasu, literally, translates as 'to persevere' or 'to endure.' But it's used hundreds of times a day - gambare, gambatte, gambaremasu - over and over, time and again. It, along with 'kawaii' [cute] can, in many ways, sum up the whole Japanese ethos.

Since, in English, we don't go around wishing endurance and perseverance on one another, it's colloquially translated, usually, as 'Do your best!' or 'Good Luck.'

But what it really means, in English, is "suck it up." That oh so encouraging phrase that most likely originated in the military* and crossed over to civilian life at some point.

Now, every time I hear "Gambatte" I hear "Suck it up."

This will be difficult, don't complain, work harder.

Yep, that's Japan.

*Sources differ on the origin of the idiom "suck it up." Some sources place its origin in the military in the 1930s where "suck up your gut [and stick out your chest]" became "suck it up." Others say it started in military aviation, where, at high altitudes, if you vomited into your oxygen mask, you had to "suck it up" in order to maintain airflow.