Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xs-XWk_oQA 0:55

Translation from subtitles:

There’s a scene where the Nazi’s are separating the Jewish by their occupation.


Those are what I might call the "conjunctive filler phrases" (or more commonly known as "verbal tics"), which often add very little, if at all, in the way of meaning but somehow help create a softening effect (a good rhythm) that native speakers tend to instinctively "seek" in spoken Japanese.

We use so many of those in spontaneous spoken language. A fairly comprehensive list can be found here.


「～～というのは」＝ plain 「は」 in meaning. It is used when explaining something or providing information about it.

「～～というと」 functions just about the same way.

In other words, there is redundancy here, and there is absolutely no effort to rid the redundancy. To prove it, you only need to find the word 「場面 (scene)」 used back-to-back. This is how Japanese has been spoken whether the speaker is a small child or the award-winning archaeologist in the video.

「～～がですね」 just means the same as 「が」.

So that English translation, naturally and rightly, does not reflect the use of filler phrases.

  • 1
    Thanks very much for the informative post! One question - do children really use the phrase "~というと" commonly in everyday speech? Based on my (rather limited) experience, this is more used by adults in more formal settings. Thanks. – Locksleyu Feb 9 '16 at 12:46
  • I'm wondering if と言うのは here could have some meaning that extends from と言う such as "as for (said) scene..." or "as for the (previously mentioned) scene..." – browncm Feb 16 '16 at 1:34

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