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Can we?
That Obama's "Yes, we can" slogan has been appropriated by various parties here in Japan (and, I expect, elsewhere) for unrelated purposes is not a new observation. What I want to note is an interesting variant on the slogan I have noticed recently.
For example: the Japanese Red Cross's spring blood drive is using "We can" and "I can" as slogans on their own, without the "Yes." If you look at the "We can" commercial in particular, you'll note the emphasis on dekiru, a Japanese verb meaning "to be able to", i.e. "can."
In my dialect, just saying "we can" with no pre-existing context is quite odd. You can say "We can do it," or you can respond to questions like "Who can do it?"/"Can you do it?" with "We can," but you can't just start an exchange with "We can." Can being an auxiliary verb, it needs a main verb on the table too or it just doesn't work.
Part of the genius of "Yes, we can" as a slogan was that the "Yes" conjured up an illusory context enabling the punchy brevity of the rest. Meaning-wise, "Yes, we can" is technically just as vague as "we can do it," but because it sounds like the answer to a question, it has the ring of directness and determination even though the question itself is left unsaid. "Can!" is also a stronger ending than a limp tail of placceholders.
I want to argue that the Japanese Red Cross and similar naked "We can" sloganeers do not get this. They think that "we can" is analogous to dekiru, which can be used to open an exchange because it is not functionally an auxiliary verb. The logical conclusion is that cutting off the "Yes" will make the slogan even punchier—more closely analogous to a simple "Dekiru!"
And in fact, let it be noted that they are probably right. Native English speakers are only an insignificant fraction of the audience that the Japanese Red Cross is targeting here. It doesn't matter what we think. All that matters is how the slogan sounds to native Japanese speakers who are familiar with the "(Yes,) X can" construction thanks to Obamania.
Addendum 1: I had another example of the awkward "We can": a series of English textbooks for kids called We Can!, published by McGraw-Hill apparently starting in October 2008. However, in this this blog post, co-author MATSUKA Yōko 松香洋子 seems to be claiming that she chose the title long before Obama started campaigning. (Either way, We Can! still sounds weird to me, but maybe that's why McGraw-Hill aren't knocking on my door with a book contract right now.)
Addendum 2: Obviously, "[X] can!" existed as a construction in Japanese English before Obama. Prime example: U-Can, an educational outfit that's been around for years. But I do think that Obama's campaign has given it a new popularity.
Carl:
As a former JET, what I found most troubling was translating できた as "could". "I could enjoy my summer vacation." Because "could" without a context sounds like a subjunctive, those sentences just do not work. On the other hand, "I was able to enjoy my summer vacation," is a bit stiff, but at least not glaringly wrong.