07.Jan.2010 Mensetsu

面接 [めんせつ] – interview

面 [メン・おも] – face; surface

接 [セツ・つぐ] – touch; contact

In America, we will often say “touch base” when we’re contacting someone, presumably to keep them (or ourselves) informed of something.  In Japanese, when someone has an interview, they “touch face.”  Touch base… touch face…

OK, so maybe it wasn’t as funny as it sounded in my head.