In today's article, we will look at some slang in Japanese among the thousands that exist and are used in Japan. In Japanese, there are millions of slang , abbreviations, and others, all due to the number of ideograms, readings of kanji, and the Japanese dialects.
Slang can be informal, regional, foreign, abbreviations, or just different ways of saying a certain word. In this article, we will see several slang that are widely used in Japanese daily life.
Table of Contents
Wakamono Kotoba - Slang for Japanese Youth
Usually, it's the young people who tend to use slang in their daily lives. The Japanese have a specific word to refer to the slang used by the youth. That word is wakamono kotoba [若者言葉], which literally means words of youth.
Most of the slang and words mentioned in this article fit into this category of wakamono kotoba. It is important to that sometimes simple alterations of existing words, sounds, and some expressions can align with the slang and jargon of young people.
The language of Wakamono is mostly used by teenagers around 20 years old, but it is rarely used in other generations, even though recently people of all ages have used it. There are some youthful words that have started to be used recently, and some that have been ed down to young people for generations.
The youth language did not originate in modern times, but in the ancient book of observations and reflections "Makurasoshi". This book treats the language of the youth of that time as a disturbance that often received social criticism.
Top slang in Japanese
Let's start by showing you some simple slang that don't need much explanation. Then we will see the main Japanese slang explained a little more in depth. Let's see a lot of Japanese slang in this article, I hope you like it:
- Shitakke [したっけ] - Slang that appears at the end of the anime/manga The Town Where Only I Am Missing from the Hokkaido region that means "bye, see you later";
- Baito [バイト] - Slang for the word "arubaito", used to refer to part-time jobs or some services. It comes from the German "Arbeit";
- Chotto ii? [ちょっといい?] - A gentle way of saying, do you have a second? Do you have a moment? Can we talk a bit?
- Dame [だめ] - A colloquial word for "it's not good" or "cannot";
- Eto [えと] - A way to say "Umm..." It's also used to soften questions or requests. It's also common to extend it to "Ettoo..." to match the level of perplexity or thought;
- Faito! - [ファイト!] - Borrowed from the English word "Fight," meaning "struggle," and is used in sports or competitions as "Do your best!" or like "Gambatte!";
- Hara Heta [腹へた] - A colloquial way to say "I'm hungry". It's not very polite to older people;
- Time [ほら] - Means "Look!" or "See?". If elongated to "Horrraaaa..." (with a certain tone), it can mean "I warned you...";
- Iyada [イヤだ] - Means "I don't want to do this" or "I don't want to see" (aversion or fear). Usually, the "I" at the beginning is omitted or reduced to the point that it's hard to hear;
- Ki ni shinaide [気にしないで] - Means "Don't worry about it";
- Nandake [何だけ] - Used to say when a person does not or did not hear, either ironically or not and used for oneself. "What was it again?..";
- Osu [オス] - An informal way to greet someone (usually used with friends);
- Shimatta [しまった] - A way to say "Damn" when you did something you didn't intend to;
- Suge [スゲ] - A more informal way to say "sugoi"
- Lie [嘘-うそ] - Lit. "Lie", it can also mean "No way!", "You must be kidding me!" and etc;
- Wagamama [わがまま] - A term for a spoiled and/or selfish person;
- Zannen [ざんねん] - Meaning "what a pity". Often used for insults;
It's a hassle. - When something is not good
The word mendoukusai [面倒くさい] means "smells like problems" where mendou means problems and kusai means stink. The word mendokusai is used to express discontent with something. It means that something is bothersome, annoying, difficult, and problematic.
We wrote an article that discusses in detail the Meaning of Mendokusai! In it, you will see that this word is used for various irritating, boring, difficult, problematic, and tedious situations. Besides mendokusai, we also have slang such as:
- Mazui [まずい] - Literally used for food that is not good, it can also be applied to other things that are not good.
- Kimoi [キモイ] - A slang term derived from the word kimochi warui, which means "bad feeling," "unpleasant sensation," or "disgusting."
- Zurui [ずるい] - A negative adjective. It means something along the lines of "sly" or "playing dirty".
- Hidoi [ひどい] - Used to say "you're mean," "you're bad," and other related .
There are many other slangs and insults, we recommend reading our other article: Warui Kotoba - Swear Words in Japanese by clicking here.
Yabai - Japanese slang for something good and bad?
One of the most popular slang words in Japan is yabai [やばい]. This word can mean both something good and something bad depending on the usage. Primarily, the word yabai [やばい] means something dangerous, inconvenient, risky, unexpected, and terrible.
In summary, yabai means not good, but over time the word began to mean “I was unexpectedly surprised and shocked.” Young Japanese people started to reverse its meaning to something good, cute, delicious, cool, and amazing.
Of course, yabai is not just that, which is why we have a dedicated article detailing the meaning of yabai. We recommend reading the article to understand how to use this very popular and controversial slang.
Japanese slang derived from English
Freeter (フリーター) - Pronounced as furiitaa, it literally means freelancer or temporary employee. The difference from the word baito (バイト) with freeter is that baito they are usually students or housewives who work temporarily in a job. Already freeter often works in various jobs and chose this freelance life or to do small tasks.
Arasa (アラサー) - A Japanese expression derived from English that refers to women in their 30s. It was based on the English expression. around thirty what it means around 30.
Rafu (ラフ) - Term taken from English (rough) which can mean rough, rude, and tough. This expression used to refer to a preliminary plan or draft is now often used for people who are casually dressed (rafu na kakkou -ラフな格好) or to refer to the casual attire (casual attire - ラフな服装)
Suru (スルー) - Born from the English word through. often means go through something or ignore something (mushisuru [無視する]).
Dantotsu (ダントツ) it is an expression somewhat derived from English that means far and away the best. It is an abbreviation of dance toppu (断然トップ). I think most people know that top it's top in english.
NG - It is pronounced enuji, an abbreviation of no good which expresses that something is not good or is not well.
OL - It is pronounced o-eru, is an abbreviation for an office lady, feminine of salesman.
Mazakon (マザコン) - Expression that refers to a person who is excessively attached to their mother.
Nau - (なう) do inglês now, which means now, is often used on the internet.
Japanese abbreviations, expressions and slang
Ahiru-guchi and Ochobo-guchi - This expression represents the act of moving the lips or pushing them together while taking a photo. In the West, it is known as the duck face. Another expression that indicates the fish face is called tarako-kuchibiru.
Torusoo - Modern word (not a trunk) that refers to a mannequin. It originated from the expression you will be displaying what does clothes mean exhibited.
Dotakyan (ドタキャン) - Means last-minute cancellation, it is an abbreviation of the expression "dota nba kyan seru".
Majide (マジで) - Expression that means "serious?"
Kuri botchi (クリぼっち) - Expression that indicates someone who is spending Christmas alone. Kuri comes from kurisumasu, which means Christmas, and bocchi comes from the expression hitori botchi.
Ossu (おっす) - A military greeting that was once considered highly formal and is still common among martial artists. It is often used by children instead of hi.
Nori nori (ノリノリ) - Derived from the verb noru (乗る) which means to ride or move forward. This expression is often used to indicate a fun person, excited and in a good mood.
Guroi (グロい) - Used to describe something grotesque, horrible, repulsive, frightening, or bloody.
- For more abbreviations and acronyms, we recommend reading our article about Acronyms and Abbreviations in Japanese.
Internet slang used by the Japanese
Many slang mentioned in this article are constantly used by the Japanese on the internet and social networks, but there are some specific ones that deserve to be highlighted and that are kind of exclusive to the internet. Ready to meet them?
Before we see the main ones, I want to list the slang that don't need much explanation:
乙 - An internet slang that means otsukaresama (お疲れ様) or thanks for your hard work. All this because the kanji reading 乙 is otsu.
△ (ema, taro) - Used on the internet and on niconico, 2chan to say that something is cool.
- 鯖 - Ideogram for saba fish, but on the internet it refers to some bad and dubious service.
- Mjk - Abbreviation of majika which means serious?
- Baka - Donkey in Japanese;
- DQN - Abbreviation of Dokyun which means stupid;
- 888 - Means congratulations and applause;
The Laughs Online - wwwww
The Japanese use the letter "W" as if it were our Brazilian "kkkkkk". Some use several wwww or even a W at the end of a sentence to indicate laughter on the internet. So whenever you see a bunch of WWWW on niconico douga, you already know what it means.
The reason why W is used is that it was derived from warau [笑う] which means to laugh in Japanese. Another theory is that its origin comes from [はは] which is also a laugh, but in short, its writing can be wawa. Another way to express laughter online is by typing the kanji for laughter in parentheses (笑).
On the internet, people also use the ideogram for grass kusa [草] to laugh, something similar to lol. For example: 寝たい〜草 in Portuguese means "I want to sleep lol". The reason is that several W together resemble grass [wwwwwwwwwwwwww].
Best Friends in Japanese
The Japanese have a slang term commonly used on the internet to refer to close and best friends or best friends in English. In Japanese, the word zuttomo [ずっ友] is used, which is an abbreviation of zutto meaning always and tomo meaning friend.
orz - Seiza in Japanese
Leaving for the world of apologize.
Owakon - Old Content
Owakon is an internet slang that means something like old content. You know that old video or article that is already outdated? The Japanese can call it owakon, which is a combination of owatta [終わった] meaning finished and kontento [コンテント] meaning content.
