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B: says that no one ever became ill just because they didn't ask for good
health on a tanzaku. And then:

> A: 「じゃあ、たんざくに書いたくらいで金持ちになる人もいない **んじゃないの** 」  
>  A: Well, no one ever became rich just by writing on a tanzaku either (did
> they?)  
>  B:「いいんだ。こまかいことを言うな」

I can't work out if んじゃないの is a real question or a rhetorical question.

Because of that I can't understand the reply. Is こまかいことを言うな "Don't **say**
trivial things" or "Don't **ask** trivial things"?

In fact I'm not sure about the whole of B's reply. Is いいんだ supposed to be
consoling as in "It's all okay. Don't worry about trivial problems", or is it
more like. "It's fine! Stop asking stupid questions".
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2017-04-22T09:46:39.547
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2017-04-22T11:26:48.233
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question
nuances questions
Is んじゃないの rhetorical? And other conversation nuances
Conclusion first: It is rhetorical.

> 「～～人もいないんじゃないの」

always means:

> "There is no one who ~~, right?"

I used "right?", but this 「（ん）じゃないの」 is closer to the French "n'est-ce pas?"
in both meaning and feeling. It is used much more to make a statement than to
ask a question even though the sentence is usually uttered with a rising
intonation at the end.

> 「～～人もいない **んじゃないの** 」≒「～～人もいない **でしょう** 」≒「～～人も/は **いない** 」

「んじゃないの」, therefore, does not really change the meaning of the sentence. It
only helps obtain the listener's agreement. The expression contains 「ない」, but
it is NOT a negative expression.

If I said 「このピザうまいじゃない。」, the only thing it can mean is "This pizza is
yummy!", but I have encountered quite a few Japanese-learners who thought it
meant "This pizza is **not** yummy." What they need to understand is that the
negative form of 「うまい」 is 「うま **く** ない」 and **not** 「うまいじゃない」.

Moving on to B's reply...

> Is こまかいことを言うな "Don't say trivial things" or "Don't ask trivial things"?

It is the former. As I explained above, A is not asking a question in the
first place.

> Is いいんだ supposed to be consoling as in "It's all okay. Don't worry about
> trivial problems", or is it more like. "It's fine! Stop asking stupid
> questions".

It is the former, precisely.
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2017-04-22T11:26:48.233
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2017-04-22T11:26:48.233
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answer