49057
I'm a bit confused about the following dialogue:

> A: 彼が医学部に行くって、聞いた。  
>  B: 彼が医者になるなんて信じられない。魚も料理できないのに。

=>

> A: Did you hear that he is entering medical studies?  
>  B: I can't believe that he is becoming doctor or the like. Though he can't
> even make fish/He can't even make fish after all...

The comparison that is done here seems quite unusual to me, that's why I'm
asking for confirmation.
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2017-07-05T07:36:19.140
49056
2017-07-05T08:24:17.933
2017-07-05T07:50:09.547
5010
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question
nuances
Is this irony here?
I have not seen something similar, either, but yes it's obviously an ironical
statement. 魚も料理できない in this context implies either (1) he is terribly clumsy,
or (2) he is afraid of touching gross things like dead fish.

Note that "doctor or the like" is not what this sentence is saying. This なんて
refers to the action of 医者になる as a whole, and it's explained
[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/421/5010).
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2017-07-05T08:00:47.230
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2017-07-05T08:00:47.230
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answer
Certainly there is a nuance of irony over the extreme contrast between "fish
cooking" and "a doctor (including a physician, a surgeon, etc.)". I think that
the basic part of the contrast is "to cut flesh" or "to execute a surgical
operation".

The speaker thinks that there is "a surgical operation" as one of the main
part of the doctor's work. As an amateur's understanding, the speaker seems to
think that "surgery", "cutting flesh" or "dissecting" are the same thing as a
whole. On the other hand, I think that the speaker assumes that cleaning fish
(removing the scales and guts from fish) and filleting fish (removing bones
from fish), that are similar to a surgical operation, have to be done prior to
cooking them.

As a whole, the speaker thinks and says ironically and ignorantly that the
student cannot become a doctor because he cannot even cook fish.
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2017-07-05T08:18:17.480
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2017-07-05T08:24:17.933
2017-07-05T08:24:17.933
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answer