On China's SNS Xiaohongshu (RED), a post about an embarrassing misstatement made at a Japanese store drew a strong reaction.

According to the male poster, the other day, when he visited a store in Osaka during the Uniqlo Kansaizai (Thanksgiving Festival), there was a limit on the number of entrants, so he waited in line for a while. When it was finally his turn to enter the store, a Japanese female store clerk smilingly asked, "何名様ですか？" (How many people are in your party?). The man impulsively replied, "1名様です" (It's one person).

The man wrote self-deprecatingly, "The moment I finished speaking, I came to my senses. Both the clerk and I froze on the spot (lol). The clerk didn't say anything more, and I immediately fled into the store. As an 'I person' (an introverted person according to the MBTI personality test), I couldn't stop sweating cold bullets anymore."

In response to this post, Chinese netizens left funny comments such as "1つです" (It's one piece/item), "1本です" (It's one long object/bottle), "1匹です" (It's one animal), "朕は1名であるぞ" (I, the Emperor, am one person), "俺様" (I, myself/My magnificent self), and "(in a spiritual sense) '何人に見えますか？'" (How many people do I look like to you?). Consoling comments were also seen, such as "I've done the same thing," "Hahaha, it's okay. Japanese people often say that too," and "Don't worry about it. You're a foreigner there, after all."

In addition, personal anecdotes were also shared, such as: "I was late for the very first class after enrollment. When the teacher asked for my name, I accidentally replied 'リュウさん' (Ryu-san, using the honorific 'san'). Even a year later, I still feel awkward when I see that teacher." "When a Japanese delivery person came to pick up a package, they asked, '○○様ですか？' (Are you Mr./Ms. [○○]?) and I replied, 'はい、○○様です' (Yes, I am Mr./Ms. [○○]!). The delivery person was looking down, but when they heard that, they looked up and stared at me (crying face emoji)." "When taking a taxi at the airport, I pointed to two large suitcases and said to the driver, '2人です' (It's two people). The driver's eyes widened."