Yuri to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito

A Shoujo ai centred Weblog

Day 26 – Useful Japanese Slang

Posted on | March 28, 2008 | 6 Comments |

I thought I would share with you faithful readers the fruits of trying to decipher the ultra-fast talking of (mainly cardiology) residents, with a helpful bilingual translator. Soon it becomes clear that a lot of words used in everyday speech are not to be found in many textbooks of the language. Therefore here is a short list of them with the meanings that I currently associate with them.

If you find yourself in a socail situation and are at a lost for words, reaching quickly for one of these phrases is guaranteed to get at least a laugh from Japanese colleagues ^_^

  • Bimyou 微妙 – Actual meaning – subtle
    Use – mainly used by girls (a lot in certain areas) but can be used by men as well. Used to describe a situation which is neither good nor bad but sort of leaning in the bad direction..
    e.g.Q:Is he a good guy? いい人ですか A: Bimyou! 微妙！
  • Yabai やばい/やべえ – actual meaning – dangerous
    Use – mainly used by men. Is itself a slang word, so keeps its meaning. Can be used to emphasise any dangerous situation but can be used in situations where you don’t know what to do.
    e.g. Situation: Group of delinquent boys approached by stunning bakunyuu gaijin woman. Boys: やべえ！！！！
  • Arienai 有り得ない – actual meaning – that can’t be!
    Use – Another one mainly used by women, usually as an expletive and usually in an unnecessarily high pitched voice. Use is equal to “No Way!!” As seen and laughed at in the Calpis Water commercial.
    e.g. Girl: I love you! 好きです！　Boy: I’ve liked you too for a long time 僕も昔から好きです Girl: Arienai!!! 有り得ない
  • Erai 偉い　- actual meaning – great, celebrated
    Use – as a superlative adjective similar to “awesome” or “outstanding”. Usually used with nouns, whereas a similar word subarashii　素晴らしい is usually used on its own.
    e.g. Cardcaptor Sakura is an awesome magical girl カードキャプターさくらは偉い魔法少女です
  • Maita 参た – actual meaning – it became troublesome (multiple)
    Use – actually a word with the synonym syndrome which has multiple meanings. Maitana~~ is used for situations in which you need to express hardship that a situation is defeating/has defeated you but with an implication that there is a chance that it could be saved.
    e.g. Nurse: What should we do with this aortic dissection patient? 先生，A.D.の患者さんはなにをするんですか？ Doctor: Maitana~~~ まいたなあ
  • Yaruchin やるちん – actual meaning – playboy
    Use – something I’ve been calling one of the Cardiology doctors. It means like it reads.
  • Mendoukusai 面倒臭い – actual meaning -　bothersome
    Use – one word expletive generally used to mean laboursome. Usually seems to be used to desctibe people rather than situations but I assume it can be used to describe both.
  • Kakkoii 格好いい – actual meaning – literally: style is good
    Use : Not as often as you would expect given its extensive use in anime, but generally used by crowds of screaming girls to express their love of a particular boyband type. Transliterates directly to “So cool!!”

Maybe more later if I think of any ^_^. I leave Kameda tomorrow morning, so posts may be a little fewer from now due to lack and expense of interweb cafes. Keep watching my Flickr space though because I’ll still try to upload any phots I have from time to time when I have the connection!

Mata ne~~

Yuribou

Category: Comment

Comments

6 Responses to “Day 26 – Useful Japanese Slang”

  1. Roy 747
    March 28th, 2008 @ 10:27 am

    I love your pictures :). By appearance, you were the last person in that group that I’d thought you be, including your sensei. I think you need a new poll relating to your trip.

  2. SIMS
    March 28th, 2008 @ 7:00 pm

    I love it!!!!
    Your Blog is very lovely!!!!

  3. Akakori
    March 28th, 2008 @ 9:13 pm

    Actually, it’s “Mendokusai” but the ku is said so quickly that it’s almost inaudible.
    I only know that cos it’s the title of a song by Metronome :D

    Cool post. Where are you off to next?

  4. Pillowcase
    March 29th, 2008 @ 6:59 pm

    面倒臭い/めんどうくさい/Mendoukusai: Bothersome, tiresome, wearisome, annoying, boring. Composed of: n. 面倒 – a bother and v. 臭い – to stink. Literally, smelling of trouble.

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