When おばあさん is not really your grandmother


When native speakers of Japanese use おばあさん to refer to an older woman who is
not that that individual's own grandmother, does their _concept_ of the woman
include any expectation that she would have had children at some point during
her life?




Generally speaking, yes, there is that assumption in our minds, but this
custom rarely, if ever, causes problems when the older woman addressed as
おばあさん by a stranger actually turns out to be someone who has never had a child
in her life. That is because it is likely that she herself has been addressing
any older lady おばあさん since she was little.




Generally speaking, yes, there is that assumption in our minds, but this
custom rarely, if ever, causes problems when the older woman addressed as
おばあさん by a stranger actually turns out to be someone who has never had a child
in her life. That is because it is likely that she herself has been addressing
any older lady おばあさん since she was little.

