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 )

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

あげ（or アゲ) = age

(get more excited)

あげあげ(or アゲアゲ)= ageage

(the maximum excitement)

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,

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

さげさげ (or サゲサゲ）( = sagesage)

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 arrow ↓ or 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.

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

Ex. ひまぽよ = himapoyo = from暇 (= 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

なう = nau : I have explained this one above

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

あげぽよ = agepoyo

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

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 ぜ= 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 :

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 :

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 :

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:

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:

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:

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 :

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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