What 'Maemuki ni Kentō Shimasu' Really Means in Japan

I spent my first year in Japan getting excited when people were actually telling me 'no'.

「前向き<rt>まえむき</rt>に検討<rt>けんとう</rt>します」 (Maemuki ni kentō shimasu)

Literally, this means "I will consider it positively," but it's almost always a polite, indirect way of saying "that's not going to happen."

I remember pitching a project I was really excited about, and my boss just replied with a calm smile, "Hmm, we'll consider it positively."

I was so happy for a week until a kind colleague finally explained what it really meant. That one stung a bit, you know? 😅