So I recently gave up smoking and it feels pretty good to not have to worry about how you smell anymore.

That said, it does take quite a bit of mental effort to not fall back into this habit. I smoked... a lot, for almost 5 years. And now it's gone.
So to help me with my mild withdrawal syndrome (and also for old time's sake), I decided to reenact some smoking memories... in Japanese.

In Japan, smokers are a little more ostracized than what I'm used to. Even outdoors, if you're on the busy streets of Shinjuku, you are only allowed to smoke in certain places, where your smoke won't accidentally wander into the nostrils of an innocent passer-by.

(disclaimer: internet picture, probably not from Shinjuku)

Indoor smoking is not prohibited though, at least not nation-wide, so bars and restaurant have the liberty to choose whether to allow smoking or not.

But still, if you're a smoker and find yourself in Japan, it's best to assume that, wherever you are, the place is probably 禁煙/きんえん/smoking prohibited.

禁煙 comes from 禁/きん/prohibited and 煙/えん/smoke.

In places that look smoker-friendly but actually aren't, you would usually find a 看板/かんばん/sign or poster saying something along the lines of...

ここは禁煙です。
ここ　は　きんえん　です。
Smoking is prohibited (here).
Literally: 'here + は + forbidden-smoke + です'.

Additionally you could also see...

喫煙はご遠慮ください。
きつえん　は　ごえんりょ　ください。
Please refrain from smoking.
Literally: 'smoking + は + (politely) refrain + please.

Note: As you probably already know, for the sake of politeness the word 遠慮 receives a "ご" as a prefix, turning into ご遠慮. Also, the standard word for 'smoking' is 喫煙, stemming from 喫/きつ/ to consume, and 煙/えん/smoke. Pretty straightforward.

They could also add:

ご協力下さい。
ごきょうりょく　ください。
Please cooperate.
Literally: '(politely) cooperate + please'

Note: You know the drill, 'ご' is added before '協力' to make it sound more polite.

But now, let's say you made a smoker friend in Japan and you want to ask them to join you for a quickie. Here's how you would say it:

ちょっと一服しにいかない？
ちょっと　いっぷく　し　に　いかない？
How about a smoke?
Literally: 'a little bit + a puff + don't go to do?'

Note: 一服 actually stands both for 'a smoke' and also for 'a quick break', so you could just as well hear non-smokers invite each other for an 一服 and go for a quick coffee or tea.

Note #2: Niko told me that he's planning to talk about this use of ちょっと in an upcoming lesson. We just saw two other uses of the word in the last lesson.

But they could say no using the following word:

ごめん、さっき吸ったばっかりだから...
ごめん、さっき　すった　ばっかり　だから...
Sorry, I smoked (a cigarette) just now so...
Literally: 'Sorry, just now + smoked (inhaled) + merely + is because...

Note: It's not unusual to leave sentences hanging in Japanese. In oral communication, they often leave the sentence unfinished because:

1. They don't want to refuse the person so straightforwardly, so they try not to say the part with the actual 'rejection' out loud, leaving it instead to the imagination of the listener.
2. They rely on the listener to figure it out by themselves. They gave them the necessary information to figure out in which side of the yes-no spectrum the answer is heading, so they trust them with putting two and two together.

Now, in case you get asked the "do you smoke?" question and you want to make it (not so) clear that you do, I have the perfect おやじギャグ(old-man joke) answer for you:

A: タバコ吸いますか？
たばこ　すいます　か？
Do you smoke?
Literally: 'tobacco + smoke + か.'

You: すいません、すいます
すいません、すいます。
Sorry, (I) smoke.
Literally: 'Sorry + (I) smoke'

Note: すいません is the slightly abbreviated, colloquial version of すみません.

A: え？どっちですか？
え？　どっち　です　か？
Huh? (So) Which is it?
Literally: 'wha? which + is + か'

Of course, for the non-smokers, the answers is:

タバコは吸いません。
たばこ　は　すいません。
I don't smoke cigarettes.
Literally: 'Cigarettes + は + not smoke'

...And I recommend keeping it like that, as it's harder to quit than to not start in the first place, and at some point in your life you will want to stop smoking, I assure you.

So I hope you learned from my mistakes today, both literally and metaphorically, and I'll see you next time!

This lesson was written by Adriana, a guest contributor.