Taidan

Today, I will talk about the Japanese word "taidan."

"Taidan" is often translated into "talk," "conversation," or "interview," but it's wrong in a narrow sense.

"Tai" in "taidan" have the meanings of "pair" and "one-to-one," and "dan" have the meaning of "conversation."

Therefore, "taidan" means a "one-on-one conversation/dialogue," and it's not used when there are more than three speakers.

Although a three-way conversation is defined as "teidan" in Japan, the phrase is not popular very much.

In my opinion, if there are more than three speakers, you should say "kaigi," "kaidan," "meeting,"or "hanashi-ai."

対談

今日は、「対談」という日本語を紹介します。

「対談」は "talk" や "conversation," "interview" などと訳されることが多いですが、厳密には異なります。

「対談」の「対」は、「一対」("pair") や 「一対一」("one-to-one") といった意味を持ち、「談」は「会話」(conversation) との意味を持ちます。

すなわち、「対談」は「2人で行う話し合い」を意味し、3人以上の会議などには使えません。

3人での話し合い「鼎談」と言いますが、あまり一般的に使われる言葉ではありません。

個人的には、3人以上であれば「会議」「会談」「ミーティング」「話し合い」などと言うのが良いと思います。