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About ご[馳走]{ちそう}: two “runs” would give you “a feast”?
ごちそうさまでした gochisousamadeshita 【ご馳走様でした · 御馳走様でした】
expression: That was a delicious meal (said after meals); What a wonderful meal
(lit. You were a Feast (preparer))
Is the literal translation here accurate, and is there a longer phrase that preceded this contemporary one?
Answer
The 語源由来辞典 says, the term 馳走 "feast" has its origin in the fact that in order to prepare a feast, the host would have to dispatch horses in order to get all the ingredients.
As for the literal translation, I would say that 様 is not a suffix for a person (like さん, etc.), but closer to the meaning of 様子. (Same for お陰様, ご苦労様, お待ち遠様.) So that the phrase translates, also literally, to
ご馳走様でした。
It was a feast.
The phrase ご馳走様 dates back only to the latter half of the Edo period. Before that, the phrase 馳走になった was used in the sense of お手数をかけました "Sorry for the inconvenience/Thank you for your troubles".
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