Gals’ slang words: あげぽよ ( = agepoyo) \(^0^)/

「この顔、“やばぽよ”ってどゆこと?」

= Kono kao  “yabapoyo”tte doyukoto?

= What do you mean my face is “Yabapoyo” = awful!

Hi, everyone! I always get requests to make lessons on slang. Just recently ゾモチ who visits this site once in a while asked me in the comment section to make a slang lesson as well. :) )

We have been studying a lot lately so let’s take a break today, and I’ll teach you a new slang word used by ギャル( = gyaru)Gals.

So today’s focus slang word is:

:ii: あげぽよ= agepoyo !UEBOUNCE!

Do you know this word?

It won the 銀賞 = ginshou = Silver Award (2nd prize) of

:w: 女子中高生ケータイ流行語大賞

=Joshi chuukousei keetai ryuukougo taishou,

=The awards for most trendy word on cell phones and the Internet among female junior high and high school students

of the year 2010

• 女子 = joshi = girls

• 中高生 = chuukousei

= 中学生 ( = chuugakusei= junior high school student) + 高校生 ( = koukousei = high school students )

:rrrr: 中高生 = chuukousei = junior high school and high school students

ケータイ = keitai ←This a colloquial way to write  携帯電話 = keitai denwa = cell phone

携帯  ( = keita) means “portable”and 電話  ( = denwa ) means “telephone”

We often refer to cell phones as just 携帯 = keitai.

流行語  = ryuukougo = trendy word, buzz word

大賞 = taishou = award

It is also known as  ギャル語 = gyaru go = Gal lingo = fashionable young girls trendy words

Can you guess what it means?
I bet many of your Japanese friends don’t even know the meaning yet.

Although actual Gals use this quite often, it was not familiar to many adults (including female college students) until last fall. People (including boys) have started to use it more often lately on twitter, in text mails on cell phone and on SNS after this word was nominated as the trendy word award for young girls.

:l: When do you use this word?

You use it when you are super happy, having a lot of fun, getting excited verbally or in written form.

!to right! あげぽよ!= agepoyo!

When you write, you can either use hiragana or katakana or even both! アゲぽよ

Now where did this word come from?

I have taught you the expression

テン ションが上がる ( = Tenshon ga agaru) to get motivated, inspired, to be energetic, get excited in my Mini Lesson,

テンションが高い/低い = tenshon ga takai:hikui

We also say,

(テンション)あげあげ(or アゲアゲ) = (tenshion) ageage
or
あげ↑
(or アゲ↑) = agee↑

(When you type this, it is usually written with upward arrows )

テンションあがる = tenshon agaru

:rrrr: あげ(or アゲ) = age

(get more excited)

:rrrr:あげあげ(or アゲアゲ)= ageage

(the maximum excitement)

:rrrr:あげぽよ!= agepoyo!

So あげ of あげぽよ came from あげ  ( = age) or あげあげ ( =  ageage)

Then you might wonder where this  ぽよ ( = poyo) came from.

It is just a cute suffix that they coined.*  ぽよぽよ = poyopoyo sounds very cute to many Japanese young girls.

It is hard to translate this but it’s like “Yaaaay!”/”Great!”/”All right!” in English but it sounds much cuter and sometimes you use it add a feeling of “cheer” to the atmosphere.

Ex. 「あっ!マギーからメールが入ってる!あげぽよ〜!」

= Ah! Maggie kara meiru ga haitteru! Agepoyoo!

= Oh, I got an email from Maggie! (Yaay!)

Ex. 「すごい、美味しそうなケーキ、あげぽよ♥」

= Sugoi, oishisou na keiki, Agepoyoo!

= Wow, this cake looks delicious! (Greeeeat!)

Ex. 「今から二宮君が合流するって!」

= Imakara Ninoimiya kun ga  gouryuu surutte!

= Ninomiya-kun is coming to join us now.

=「あげぽよ〜 ☆ !happyface! 」
= Agepoyo~!!

= (Yaaay!!)

(We often see 〜 ☆ after あげぽよ= agepoyo)

(Note : When do we use 〜 instead of ー? Well, they are both used to stretch out a sound but 〜 gives the stretched out vowel a friendlier, cuter or comical nuance.)

Ex. 「今日は、あげぽよで一日がんばろうね!」

= Kyou wa agepoyo de ichinichi ganbarou ne.

= Let’s have a nice day (with good energy) today!

You can write あげぽよ ( = agepoyo) to express how happy/excited you are,

If you write a message on twitter, you can combine the twitter word なう = nau

(Go check my About lesson)

飲み会なう!イケメン多し♥ あげぽよ〜↑↑

=Nomikai nau! Ikemen ooshi♥ Agepoyooo↑↑

= I am going out (or I am now ) drinking. There are lots of cute guys!

あげぽよなう\(^0^)/

= Agepoyo nau \(^0^)/

=I am very excited now! / I am very happy now!

It is also used as an adjective,

!star! あげぽよな (=agepoyona) + noun

Ex. あげぽよな曲 !onpu! = agepoyona kyoku = happy song

*There are variation of slangy words using this ぽよ ( = poyo) suffix

さげぽよ = sagepoyo

It is the opposite of あげぽよ ( = agepoyo) and it is from

テンションが下がる = tenshon ga sagaru

:rrrr: さげさげ (or サゲサゲ)( = sagesage)

:rrrr: さげ :u: (or サゲ↓)( = sage↓)

When you are sad, get disappointed, depressed, you say

!nemui! さげぽよ :u: = sagepoyo

When you write it, you write with sad face mark or downward arrowor sad/ depressed face emoticon.

•さげぽよ ( ;_; )
= sagepoyo( ;_; )

Ex. 睡眠不足、さげぽよ :u:
= Suimin busoku sagepoyo↓

= Lack of sleep...(No energy…)

Ex. 今から試験。さげぽよ〜  (。-_-。)
= Imakara shiken. Sagepoyoo
= I have to take an exam now.(Oh well..)

Ex.今日は、風邪ぎみ… さげぽよ〜 :u:

= Kyouwa kazegimi…sagepoyoo

= I am coming down with a cold. (Oh, well..)

Variation with ぽよ= poyo :

らぶぽよ boucingheart! = rabupoyo ♥

You use it to express your feelings of love.

 

Ex. マギーにらぶぽよ〜 !heart!

= Maggie ni rabupoyo~

= I am in love with Maggie.

やばぽよ = yabapoyo

It is from a slang word やばい = yabai = great/ awesome/ fun / bad/ dangerous/ risky

You can use it when you are in trouble.

Ex. ああ〜やばぽよ〜…

= Aah…Yabapoyo~~

= Oh, I am in trouble…

Note : These kind of words don’t have one exact equivalent in English.
We just use it sensuously to fit the occasion.

!star! From the picture above :

Maggie said,

「この顔、”やばぽよ”ってどゆこと?」

= Kono kao  “yabapoyo”tte doyukoto?

= What do you mean my face is “Yabapoyo” = awful!

(Note : どゆこと(= doyukoto) → See the explanation below ★The 7th place word.)

 

So as やばい ( = yabai), やばぽよ ( = yabapoyo) could have both negative and positive meanings.

Ex. テストやばぽよ = tesuto yabapoyo = I  I haven’t studied anything for the exam. (What should I do…)

★You can create your word with this suffix

:rrrr: Ex. ひまぽよ = himapoyo = from (= hima) = I am free/ I have nothing to do

Do you want to know some of the other trendy words that were awarded in 2010?

Don’t worry if you have never heard of them. Neither have many Japanese adults!

Characteristically they all have cute suffixes or sound cute somehow. And they are often written in ひらがな=hiranaga instead of カタカナ. This makes them look even softer and cuter.

金賞 = kinsou = Gold Prize = 1st-place- prize

:rrrr: なう = nau : I have explained this one above

銀賞 = ginshou = Silver Prize= the 2nd-place-prize

:rrrr:あげぽよ = agepoyo

銅賞 = doushou = Bronze Prize= the 3rd-place-prize

:rrrr:どうかしてるぜっ= Doukashiteruzze! = There is something wrong! /This is not right. (When you complain about something.)

It’s from a punch line from a comedic bit by 吉田  ( = Yoshida) , a comedian duo ブラックマヨネーズ(= Burakku mayoneizu)

Usually the= ze suffix is for male talk.

Ex. こんなに宿題が多いなんて、どうかしてるぜっ!

= Konnani shukudai ga ooi nante, douka shiteruzeh!

= I can’t believe we have this much homework. It’s soo wrong!


The 4th-place-prize :

:rrrr:イイネ! = Iine! That’s good! / I like it!

It is from “Like” button on Facebook. Facebook (in Japanese),  Mixi, and some other SNS have an icon :-D いいね! ( = iine)  to evaluate or vote when you like the article, picture, etc. (You can also see いいね above the Facebook icon in this site as well. ) So they use this quote when we agree what your friend wrote or what their friend said.


The 5th-place-prize
:

:rrrr:うけぴー = Ukepii! It is a variation of ウケる = ukeru = funny or hilarious, when you see/hear something funny

Ex. 超ウケぴー!= Chou ukepi! = Super funny!

Ex. まじウケピー!= Majiukepii! = Super funny!


The 6th-place-prize
:

:rrrr:ありえんてぃ = Arientei = Incredible! / No way!! / It can’t be true!

Some says this suffix てぃ is from a Studio Ghibli’s  movie, 借り暮らしのアリエッティ = Kari gurashi no Ariettii = The Borrower Arrietty

Ex. マギー先生が明日までに漢字を100個覚えてこいって。マジありえんてぃ!

= Maggie Sensei ga ashita made ni kanji wo hyakko oboete koitte. Maji arientei!

= Maggie Sensei told me to remember 1,000 kanji by tomorrow. There is no way!


The 7th-place-prize
:

:rrrr:どゆこと!? ( = Doyukoto)  is  from どういうこと?( = douiukoto? )= What do you mean by that?/What does that mean? / I don’t get it. / Why is that? / What’s up with that? (When you don’t understand why.)

This comes from a typical conversation between the MC, タモリ= Tamori and  太田 ( = Ohta) from a comedy duo, 爆笑問題 =Bakushou mondai on the day-time comedy show 笑っていいとも = Waratte iitomo. (This show is over in 2014) 

Ex. あんなに食べたのにまだお腹がすいてるなんて、どゆこと?

= Annani tabeta noni mada onakaga suiterunante doyukoto?

= I ate a lot but I am still hungry. Why is that?


The 8th-place-prize:

:rrrr:うぇーい = Ueeeei!  You can use it when you greet someone (Hi,  Hey,) or you say this when you greet someone back. Also  you use it like “Yay!

It was also awarded as a trendy word for Gals but is mainly used by boys (ギャル男 ( = Gyaruo)= the male equivalent of the gyaru).

Girls use  やっふぃ (= yaffui) more when they greet.

The 9th-place-prize:

:rrrr:アラシック = Arashikku is a word to refer to the fanatic fans of an idol group 嵐  ( = Arashi). It came from their album title ARASHIC also there is a theory that シック  ( = shikku) is from an English word “sick”. They love Arashi so much as they might even get sick. So anybody アラシック( = Arashikku)here?

The 10th-place-prize :

:rrrr: ポイポイポイポポイポイポピー = poipoipoi ppoi poi popii

(Originally written in hiragana)

I think it is very Japanese thing but when especially an idol singer sing, their fans call out along with a song to animate the singer and atmosphere. It is called 合の手  ( =  ainote) . Ainote is a little bit like sampling and a little bit like cheering someone on and encouraging them to sing but not just by yelling but by adding your own harmonious lyrics.  Not just for professional singers but we also do this when someone sings Karaoke.

As you can see, many of the trendy words originally come from お笑い = owarai = (Japanese) comedian‘s lines.

I am not sure if you will be still seeing or hearing these word a year from now, though. These types of slang words come and go quite quickly. Some may disappear soon! So you’d better use them なう

マギー先生より = Maggie Sensei yori = From Maggie Sensei

最近、なんか、あげぽよなことあった?
=Saikin nanka agepoyona koto atta?
= Is there anything “Agepoyo” lately?
= Is there anything that makes you happy or excited lately?

***

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42 Comments

    1. You mean ポヨ?

      It is just from a cute sound so, you just attach it at the end of a sentence,
      おいしいなあ (oishii naa) It’s delicious! →おいしいぽよ (oishii poyo)

      But this slang is outdated now.

  1. 返事してくれてありがとう!
    Loved the nicknames you came up with! But I was hoping for a word to be added after melody, not to be cut
    メロディ〜なにかなにか
    Melodychiy for example

    Thank you so much! \(//∇//)\

    1. @Melody

      Hmm Usually we make a nickname shorten people’s name so メロディーなんとか may sound too long. But If I come up with good one, I will post here.

  2. I came to find to your website by looking for cute slang for nicknames and I started to like your blog! Thank you so much Maggie Chan!
    And can you tell me what’s the best to add for Japanese nickname for example melody-chiy, some cute words that comes after names and becomes a cute nickname! 教えてください!

    1. @Melody

      Hi Melody! Welcome to our site!
      I once taught typical nicknames in my “Is it OK to use あなた” lesson.
      But those are for Japanese names.
      Your name, メロディー…. The typical way to make it sound cute is just
      メロ(In romaji “mero”),
      add リン →メロリン(Merorin)
      add っち→メロっち(=Merocchi)

      どう?

  3. つい最近聞いたのですけれど、その「あげぽよ」はもう古いようです。ま、流行語だからですね。「ナウい」と同じように。だからと言って、「よくって」という言葉は明治時代に女学生の間で流行したものの、いまなら上品扱いされています。不思議ですね。

    1. @Toshiaki

      新しい言葉がなくなるのは早いです。ただ”ヤバい”とか”ハンパない”などかなり長い間使われているものもありますね。

    2. @Toshiaki

      本当に新しい言葉は消えるのが早いです。ただ「ヤバい」とか「ハンパない」などかなじ長い間使われ続けているものも多いですね。

  4. Konnichiwa Maggie Sensei!
    I found your blog after I search “what does agepoyo mean” on google XD
    This is so cool! Your explanation is so understandable!
    Thank you so much!!! I’m currently watching Arashi Wakuwaku Gakkou and since my Japanese is poor I can’t understand all what those sensei say.. Now I get what agepoyo means, and soon other words (by seeing your blog) (>̯͡.̮<̯͡)
    Agepoyo~ \(´▽`)/

    1. @Indah Relato
      Thank you for your nice comment!
      あげぽよ〜♪
      Arashi is cute, huh? Hope you learn a lot from my site. Please come visit here again and again!

    1. @Kenneth
      Hi Kenneth!
      No I haven’t made the one for 2011. Since they have a couple of words that I have already covered, I decided not to make one. But will keep collecting new slang words!
      I knoooow, マルモリ〜〜 is so cute!! !onpu!

  5. omg! i found your site when searching for what ‘ukepi’ means. sugoi!!! you are very detailed in your explainations agepoyo!! thank you! :D i would love more slang lessons onegaishimasu!

    1. @xelliwhammy

      Thank you for your comment! There are more slang lessons besides this one. Find them in the index. I will keep making more and more slang lesson! また来てね! :)

  6. sensei! i just find your blog when i was looking for this expression! it is amazing! i study japanese at school but with you i can learn the real slang! cool! i am very happy! you teach better than my japanese teachers! thank you very very much! yoroshiku!!

    1. @cheo

      Hi cheo! Thank you for visiting this site! I am happy to read your nice comment. あげぽよ〜♩
      これからもよろしく!!

  7. 今日は!thanks for the lesson..
    アラシックです〜
    あげぽよ!! So this word is famous in japan right now. I know about this word when i watch last week ひみつの嵐ちゃん。I like it when kiritani-san told arashi some young words especially japanese people put other word/character in btw word.. Eg: わたしはきりたにです。 become わばたぶしびはばきばりばたぶにばでばすぶ。something like that..
    Haha..thats sound so funny. In my country there is secret languange like that also. Very similar. But teens in my country dont use it anymore. I use it when i was 11 years old which is 12 years ago.
    Thanks for the lesson!!

    1. @アリナ

      久しぶり!!そうそう、アリナはアラシックだったよね。
      You have already mastered babibubebo language!!
      まばたばきびてべねべ〜! :)

  8. Another great lesson マギー先生:)This may seem random, but do you think I’m a girl by any chance? I know that you didn’t make this lesson just for me, but I just want to let you know that I’m a guy;)Its just that many people assume I’m a girl because, well, I guess ゾモチ sounds a bit girlish. Does it?

    Anyway I was wondering if you could make more posts on “rougher” sounding slang and maybe a few focusing on ギャル男 in the future?

    Thanks again for a great lesson, じゃまた~

    1. @ゾモチ
      I didn’t make this lesson just for girls. This is listed as a Gal lingo but actually many boys use it on twitter or blogs.
      As for your name, I had no idea but somehow I thought you were a boy anyway.
      But OK, I will make a “rough slang words” if I have a chance.

    1. @Luma

      Hi Luma!!! Thank you for the comment!
      So you are アラシック!!!嵐の中で誰が一番好きですか?= Arashi no naka de dare ga ichiban suki desu ka?= Who do you like the most in Arashi?

  9. Awesome entry :D I already commented on your video that I’m obsessed with Gyaru culture. So I was already familiar with the word, but haven’t seen the exact meaning anywhere until now. Keep up the good work!

  10. Hahaha! I consider myself Gyaru yet I didn’t know these words at all! I’m following a blog and the person who writes in it kept saying “sagepoyo, ne?” and “it was agepoyo!!!” and I was beginning to wonder what those words meant!

    So this lesson came right in time! Thank you so much!

  11. maggie sensei no ressun agepoyo~~~~!\(^0^)/
    maggie sensei no saito にらぶぽよ〜 *doki doki* :)
    Egg is such a cute magazine ne^^ and I m not アラシック www but some of them are good looking ^_~
    it’s so crazy how fast the slang changes over there though… it doesn’t happen in the States…. we do have lots of abbreviations though!!!^^ does maggie sensei know these? idk, smh, ttyl, ttyt, phat, hbu, smf, pda, tmi?

    1. @Aki
      Akipoyoooo~!! ヾ(@^▽^@)ノ
      Haha! You can use agepoyo & lovepoyo perfectly now. Oh, you know Egg magazine. Sugoi!!
      なに、なに!?idk, smh, ttyl, ttyt, phat, hbu, smf, pda, tmi
      (o’д’)ン?????
      It’s my turn to study English なう….

      1. okie eigo no ressun nau ne ^^v
        idk-I don’t know, smh-shake my head (when you dissapprove of something), ttyl-talk to you later, ttyt-talk to you tomorrow, phat-pretty hot and tremendous (it sounds like FAT so if you meet a guy and he says “you’re fat!” he probably means PHat not fat ^^ take it as a compliment ww), hbu-how ’bout you(u)?, smf-shaking my fist (=threatening), pda-public display of affection (mainly couples kissing and stuff in public.. sometimes it can be too much… chotto ne ^^;), tmi-too much information(usually you say it when someone tells you something gross that you really didn’t need to know for example, if a friend tells me “kyou wa akai no 下着を着ている” soredewa aki says “ano TMI!><" so you use it when people share something way too personal or disturbing or something that makes you feel uncomfortable ne ^^;;)
        "akipoyo" hehe I like that word :)

        1. oh, and we use these in everyday speech not just on the Internet^^ and phat is only used by men (girls don’t say it to boys but some girls might call guys “eye candy” or recently I heard a slang “made right” which is like ikemen but to me it’s weird to call a guy “made right” cause we have some type of sandwiches that are called that:) Aki doesn’t generally use those kinds of terms for guys^^(chotto hazukashi ne ^^;) I just think in my head sugoi or kakkoi… un ^ ^

        2. @Aki-sensei!

          Thank you so much for teaching me all the fun abbreviations. I had no idea…. I thought PDA was a file or something.
          Haha Fat and PHat do sound the same. Hope you see a lot of “eye candies” and “made right” at your college.
          ありがと!Aki先生!

    1. @Himeko

      Ah, OK…
      There are two awards for trendy words in Japan.
      1) Main one : General trendy words of the year
      I made a lesson in 2009 (boyaku + Ryuukougo lesson )

      2) Just for young girls

      This lesson is based on the 2nd one and ゲゲゲ is from the first main award.
      Gals use peculiar words so they made a new award from last year. It is fairly new.

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