若者言葉 ( = Wakamono kotoba) Young people’s Japanese

Cookie: 「このサイト、チョーうけるんだけど…www」

= Kono saito choo ukerun dake do..wwww

I love this site. It’s hilarious.… LOL!

「ってか、リアルにすごくね？」

= Teka, riaru ni sugoku ne? 

I mean isn’t it awesome?

Today’s topics is about so-called 若者言葉 ( = wakamono kotoba), Japanese language used by young people.

I have already taught you some of these types of expressions:

*タメ口 ( = Tame guchi)+ ヤバい( = yabai) lesson

ヤバイ  ( = yabai)、マジ ( = maji), ～っす ( =  ~ssu)）

*ちょっと ＋ 曖昧表現 lesson  ( = Chotto+Aimai Expression) (the last part)

〜的 ( = ~teki)、〜感じ ( =~kanji)、なんか  ( = nanka)、〜かも ( = 〜kamo)、っていうか〜  ( = teikuka〜) etc.）

* 微妙  ( = bimyou)

*ハンぱない（ =hanpanai)

*ドン引き ( = Donbiki)

etc.

Also in my Mini Lessons I have posted a few.

⭐️ ガン見  ( = ganmi) to stare at something

⭐️ ぶっちゃけ ( = Bucchake)  To be frank, Frankly speaking, To be honest

 

⭐️ いけてる ( = iketeru) cool, good, nice, delicious

⭐️ ねむっ ( = nemu) sleepy

Recently it’s trendy to finish words with “っ”   ( = tsu)

* 眠い = ねむい  ( = nemui)  sleepy  →ねむっ！ ( = Nemú)

* 暑い/熱い = あつい ( = atsui )  hot =あつっ！( = Atsú)

* うまい  ( = umai)   delicious =うまっ！( = Umá) ….continue..

 

⭐️ ガチで..（ = gachi de)

ガチで ( = Gachi de) :  ガチ( = gachi) is an abbreviation form of  ガチンコ ( = Gachinko) It means 本気で ( = honki de) / 真剣に ( = shinken ni) / マジに  ( = maji ni) : (to do something) seriously / to get real/for real/ playing something for keeps….continue..

 

 

Some of the slangy expressions especially the one with different grammar patterns confuse you because you have been learning “proper” Japanese. Unfortunately text books and human teachers at Japanese school tend to avoid teaching slang.

But actually you see or hear these all the time in daily conversation or on TV.

In my opinion, if you are comfortable, go ahead and start adopting them but if you only use slang, people might think you are 軽い ( = karui) shallow. waa

Still it is fun to learn slangy expressions and you will understand young people’s “street talk” much better.

Many of this type of slang words will disappear eventually. For example, we used to say KY   for   空気読めない ( = kuuki yomenai) can’t read between the lines, but we don’t hear it so often now.

So I would like to teach you some of the slang patterns today. These are just a few part of them and I will keep adding more in later lessons. Ready?

 

1) Young people tend to shrink words and phrases.

 

•ありがとうございます。( = arigatou gozaimasu.) Thank you very much →あざっす！ ( = azassu!)

Even in the old days we had these kind of abbreviations.

 

•おっす！ ( = Ossu)  Hey! , Hi! is originally from ←おはようございます。 ( = Ohayou gozaimasu.) Good morning.

•ちわっ！ ( = Chiwa!)   Hello! ←こんにちは！ ( = Konnichiwa)

2) Young people like to coin words combining two different words,

*エロい ( = eroi)  sexy + かっこいい ( = kakkoii) =エロかっこいい ( = erokakkoii) sexy and cool

Combining two different qualities:

*きもい ( = kimoi)  creepy, nerdy + かわいい ( = Kawaii) cute =キモかわいい ( = Kimokawaii) creepy but cute in a way.

 

Note : A duo comedians, アンガールズ ( = Angaaruzu), are called  キモかわいい ( = kimokawaii) or キモかわ ( = kimo kawa)

*不細工/ぶさいく ( = busaiku) ugly + かわいい ( = kawaii) cute →ブサかわいい ( = busakawaii) /ブサかわ ( = Busakawa) ugly but cute in a way.

Many people called me this. Ehen! :mad:

*安い ( = yasui)  cheep  + かわいい ( = kawaii) cute →安カワ ( = yasu kawa) cheap and cute fashion

3) Young people like to finish sentences with っす( = ssu) instead of です。( = desu) or ます。( = masu)

Ex. そうですね。( = Soudesu ne.)→そうっすね。（ = Soussune)

Ex. 違います。( = Chigai masu.)→違うっす。（ = Chigaussu)

Ex. 美味しいです。( = Oishii desu.)→美味しいっす。（ = Oishiissu)

4) In standard Japanese you never finish sentences with the following expressions, but young people do it all the time.

*~かも ( = ~kamo)  I think…, It seems like

*~みたいな  ( =~mitaina) Something like ~

*~から( = kara) I said~

Ex. 無理だから！ 

( = Murida kara!)

I said it is impossible!

*〜ないし！(=nai shi) emphasize

Ex. 私、やってないし！

( = Watashi yatte nai shi!)

I said I didn’t do it.

(→ Variation : やってねぇし！

( = Yatte neeshi!)

rough expression / usually for men

Ex. そんなこと聞いてないねぇ し！

( = Sonna koto kiite neeshi!)

I didn’t hear about that at all! ）

 

5) Young people like to start a sentence with “っ” ( = tsu)

•ってか  ( = tteka) I mean, actually

•つ〜か ( = tsuuka) I mean, actually

Note : 4) & 5) Please go to the Aimai lessons to know the details

6) You may hear young people stretch the ending of a word with “ー”, “〜“or vowels  (あ,ぁ(a),い,ぃ,(i)う,う,(u)え,ぇ,(e)お,ぉ(o)) adds more emotion in a cute way.

•あついよー！/あついよお〜  ( = Atsuiyoo) /あついよぉ〜 ( = Atsuiiyoo) It’s hoooot! (Talking to you or others.)

•あついなー！/あついなあ〜 ( = Atsuinaa) / あついなぁ〜 ( = Atsuinaa) It’s hooot! (Talking to yourself.)

•これほしいよー！/よお〜/よぉ〜！

( = Kore hoshiiyoo)

I want this badly!!

•すごぉーぃ!

（ = Sugooi)

Woow! That’s great! (for girls)

•キタ〜〜〜〜！/きたああ〜〜！

 ( = Kitaaaaaaa!)

Here we gooooo! /Here he coooomes!

 (When something you are expecting is coming.) 

７）Young people sometimes change the end of words or omit a part of a word.

•きもちわるい  ( = kimochi warui)

→きもい  ( = kimoi) → きめ〜  ( = kimee)* Creepy!

•かっこいい   ( = Kakkoii)

→かっけ〜! /カッケ〜！*  ( = Kakkee) Cool!

•正直に言うと ( = Shoujiki ni iuto)

→正直 ( = shoujiki) To be honest,

•すごい ( = sugoi)

→すげ〜!/スゲ〜！* ( = Sugee) Great!, Wow!, Awesome!

•本当？( = Hontou?)→ほんと？/ホント？ ( = Honto?) Really?

•ふざけるなよ！ ( = Fuzakeru nayo!)

→ざけんなよ！* ( = Zakennayo) Stop kidding me! Don’t fool around! Cut it out!

Note : Women don’t use the one with this * mark very much because it sounds too rough.

8) Adding small “つ“(=tsu) in the middle of a word emphasizes the meaning.

•めちゃくちゃ ( = mehakucha)→めっちゃめちゃ ( = mecchakucha) a great deal

Ex. めっちゃくちゃ美味しい！

( = Mecchakucha oishii)

It’s super delicious!

9) Adding 超 ( = chou)  激 ( = geki) before a word emphasizes its meaning.

Nobody says チョベリグ ( = Choberigu),  超ベリーグッド(=Super+very good) anymore,  but we still use  超 / チョー/ チョ〜( = chou) to emphasize something.

超ヤバい ( = chou yabai) Something tremendously good, delicious, bad, or risky.

We also say 激 ( = geki) instead of   超（=chou)

激 (or 劇)ウマ！ ( = geki uma!) Really delicious　

（←some uses kanji 劇 ( = geki )  from 劇的に (= gekiteki )  dramatically delicious)

 

めっちゃ ( = Meccha) is mainly used in Kansai area. It sounds kind of cute.

Ex.めっちゃ好き！ ( = Meccha suki!) I love it!

From the picture above:

「このサイト、チョーうけるんだけど…www」

( = Kono saito choo ukerun dake do..wwww)

I love this site. It’s hilarious.… LOL!

•受ける／うける／ウケる  ( = ukeru) hilarious, funny, to get a kick out of something.

•w means 笑い ( = warai) which means   Haha…. or LOL! The more “w”s you have, the more you are laughing.

(Just written form.)

「ってか、リアルにすごくね？」

(=Teka, riaru ni sugoku ne?)

I mean isn’t it awesome?

•リアルに ( = riaru ni)  really It is from “real”

リアル ( = riaru)   ＋   noun : authentic something/someone

「リアル〜！！」 ( = riaruu) This is too realistic. It is authentic.

リア充 ( = riajuu)  blog word

←リアル生活が充実している

( = Riaru ni seikatsu ga juujitu shiteiru)

to have a fulfilling real life.

•~ね？ ( = ~ne?) Ending the phrase with ね？ ( = ~ne?) Mainly for boys.

Ex.すごくない？ ( = Sugoku nai?)

→すごくね？ ( = Sugoku ne?)

Ex. 食べたくない？ ( = Tabetaku nai?)

→食べたくね？ ( = Tabetaku ne?)

OK, that’s enough. I will keep adding 若者言葉  ( = Wakamono kotoba)here or in other lessons. But I think you actually need to hear how they talk. !HI!

***************

I found a good example of “natural” 若者言葉 ( = Wakamono kotoba) in a video clip.

When you go to a movie theater, you will see previews, commercial and stuff. This is a short and fun movie clip made by the movie company TOHO. This clip is often shown right before the main feature starts. There are different versions and they are all very popular now.

Since I am not sure how long they will be up on Youtube, please watch the video clip ASAP and check the following lesson.

If they take down the video, I may delete this lesson! So study it right now!!

They won’t make you burst into laughter, but will make you giggle くすっ！( = kusu) because it has ゆるゆる感 ( = yuruyuru kan) loose and relaxing feeling.

Note : You may hear ゆるい ( = yurui) loose, relaxing, laid back. often somewhere. It is one of trendy words as well.

ゆるキャラ ( = yuru kyara) A local humorous mascot which represents each area to promote the area.

ゆるい ( = yurui) loose, relaxing, laid back + キャラ ( = kyara) character = ゆるキャラ  ( = yuru kyara)

 Ex. せんとくん ( = Sentokun) is ゆるキャラ ( = yuru kyara) of 奈良 ( = Nara)

:u:

Now before we see the video clip, let me introduce the two main characters in the clip. They are made out of paper so one of them is called 紙ウサギロペ ( = Kami Usagi Rope)  Paper Rabbit Rope and the other one is called 紙リスアキラ ( = Kami Risu Akira)Paper Squirrel Akira

Since アキラ ( = Akira) is older than ロペ ( = Rope) he is called 先輩 ( = senpai) senior. It is unclear whether they used to go to the same school or work in the same company.

Pay attention to their dialogue because Paper Rabbit always uses politer Japanese.

However, they use 若者言葉 ( = wakamono kotoba) young people’s Japanese.

As you just learned, young people tend to finish a sentence っす ( = ~ssu) instead of saying です（= desu).

ロペ(=Rope) always finish the sentence with っす ( = ssu), and that is his way of showing respect towards Akira.

Also as I mentioned in my 笑う ( = Warau) lesson, the typical comedian pattern in Japan is ボケとツッコミ ( = Boke to tsukkomi). The funny one and the straight man.

Akira is ボケ( = boke) and Kami usagi is ツッコミ ( = tsukkomi). Can you tell?

The dialogue is very colloquial that is why it is so natural that you may hear in real conversations among young people.

They don’t talk clearly so I may not get the whole part right but here we go!

 

 

*紙ウサギ ロペ  ( = Kami Usagi Rope)：R

*紙リス アキラ先輩 ( = Kami Risu Akira senpai)：A

*****************************

「海」( = Umi) at the beach

 

R:「あっらららららら〜」

( = Arra rarararara…)

Oh my…

A:「あっやばいねえ。」

( = A yabainee.)

This is bad..

R:「やばいっすね。」

( = Yabaissune)

Yeah, this is bad…

A:「めっさ(1)いるね。」

 ( = Messa(1) iru ne)

There are lots…

R:「めっさいますね。」

( = Messa imasu ne.)

Yeah, there are lots…

A:「あ〜そういやなんかテレビで言ってたわ。」

( = Aa souiya nanka terebi de itte ta wa)

Now I just remembered, I heard on TV that…

R:「はい」

( = Hai) Yes,…

A:「あ〜あの夏の終わりかけの時にぃ」

( = Aa natsu no owarikake no toki nii)

In the end of summer,…

R:「はい」

( = Hai)

Yes

A:「海行くとぉ」

( = Umi iku too)

When you go to the beach.

K:「はい」

( = Hai)

Yes

A:「なんかサメが大量発生してるから気をつけろ的(2)なことを」

( = Nanka same ga tairyou hassei shiteru kara ki wo tsukero teki (2)na koto wo)

They said something like we have to be careful because there is a swarm of sharks.

 

R:「それってクラゲじゃなかったっすか？」

(  = Sorette kurage ja nakatta ssu ka?)

Wasn’t it jelly fish?

A:「あっそっか!」

( = A sokka)

Oh I see…

 

K:「はい」

( = Hai)

Yes,

 

A:「どうする？」

( = Dousuru?)

So what are we going to do?

 

K:「えっ！？ 」

( = Eh!?)

What?

 

R:「いやいやどうするって全然 (3)無理じゃないっすかこんな… 」

( = Iyaiya, dousurtte zenzen(3) muri ja naissuka konna)

No, no, no… what do you mean by what we are going to do? It is totally impossible, you see this, right?

 

A:「（ちょーちょー、ちょ〜待て！）サメだよ！」

( = Cho cho cho mate!)  ( = Same dayo!)

Wait, wait… it is a shark we are talking about!

 

 

R:「はい(=Hai) Yes.

 

A:「サメは肉食だべ(4)！」

( = Same wa nikushoku dabe(4)!)

Sharks are carnivorous, right?

 

R:「はい」

( = Hai)

Yes.

 

A:「俺らは？」(=Orera wa?)

And you know what we are?

 

R:「えっ？」

( = Eh?)

What?

 

K:「紙っすねえ」

( = Kamssu nee)

We are made out of paper, right…

 

A「おう (5)」

( = Ou!(5))

See?

R:「あ、そっか、」

( = A sokka)

Oh, I see!

 

A:「だべ？(4) 」

( = Dabe(4)?)

Right?

 

R:「ああそうじゃないっすか」

( = Aa souja nai ssu ka!)

Oh, now I get it.

 

R:「ああ、何、じゃあ全然大丈夫じゃないっすか。」

( = Aa nan jaa zenzen daijoubu ja nai ssu ka)

Then what? We are totally fine, aren’t we!

 

R:「でも、もし」

(=Demo moshi)

But what if…

 

R:「はい 」

(=Hai)

Yes,

 

A:「あいつらが肉だけじゃなくてぇ、ねっ」

(= Aitsura ga nikudake ja nakutee ne)

What if they don’t just… you know…go for meat…

 

R:「はい 」 (=Hai) Yes,…

 

A:「動いているものならとりあえず何でも食うしっ…みたいな(6)…ことだったらぁ」

(=Ugoite iru mono nara toriaezu nandemo kuushi mitaina(6) kotodattaraa)

What if they eat anything that moves….

 

R:「全然アウト(7)っすね。」

( = Zenzen auto (7) ssu ne.)

We are totally eaten…

 

A:「だべ？」

( = Dabe?)

Right?

 

A:「よしっ！終了！」

( = Yoshi! Shuuryou!)

OK, let’s call it!

 

K:「そうっすね」

( = Soussune)

I agree!

A:「取り合えず… 」

( = Toriaezu)

Just for now…

 

R:「はい 」

( = Hai)

Yes,

 

A:「ジョーズシリーズを全部借りて〜研究しようぜ！うん。」

( = Jouzu siriizu wo zenbu karitee kenkyuu shiyouze, un!)

Why don’t we rent out Jaws and the sequels and study up (about sharks) !

 

R:「えっ？映画館どうするんっすか？(8) 」

( = E? Eigakan dousurunnsuka?(8))

What? What about movie theater?

 

A:「あっそっか！」( = A sokka!)

Oh, I see,

 

A:「ジョーズ…ジョーズやってる映画館って… 」

( = Jouzu…jouzu yatteru eigakan tte..)

Jaws… the movie theater that shows Jaws is…

 

R:「ないっすね！」( = Naissu ne)

There isn’t any!

 

R:「あるわけない(9)じゃないっすか！」

( = Aruwake nai (9)ja nai ssuka!)

There is no way to find a theater like that!

 

A:「そっか！」( = Sokka!)

You are right!

 

Note :

 

(1) めっさ ( = messa) is a slang meaning “a lot“

It is from めちゃめちゃいる  ( = mechamecha iru.) There are a lot of them. The kanji of  めちゃ(  = mecha) is 滅茶  ( = mecha) and the kanji for 茶 ( = cha) is also be read asさ “sa”.→めさ ( = mesa)→めっさ/メッサ ( = messa)

(2)的な ( = tekina)

I explained 的には ( = tekiniwa) in my ちょっと＋曖昧表現（ = Chotto & aimai hyougen) lesson before.

的な (  =tekina) is another vague expression and it means “something like“

(3) 全然  ( = zennzen) totally

It means “not at all” and we usually use it with negative word.

 

•全然だめ。( = Zenzen dame) It is not good at all.

•全然寝ていません。( = Zenzen nete imasen.) I didn’t sleep at all.

But young people combine this word with something positive.

 

•全然いいね！ ( = Zenzen iine) It’s really good!

•全然美味しい!（ = Zenzen oishii!) It is so delicious.

(4)だべ ( = dabe)

It is originally from a dialect. They say だべ  ( = dabe)  instead of です ( = desu) or でしょう？  ( = deshou?) そうです  ( = soudesu) そうだべ  ( = soudabe) Yes, it is.

そうでしょう？（ = soudeshou?) そうだべ？ ( = soudabe?) Isn’t it right?

Since it sounds very humorous, some people use it in a daily conversation. I hear SMAP member, 中居君  ( = Nakai-kun) sometimes uses this.

(5) おう ( = ou) is usually for rough men.

It is rough so women should avoid using it.

(6) みたいな ( = mitaina) something like… Another vague expression.

Also check in my ちょっと ＋ 曖昧表現（ = Chotto & aimai hyougen) lesson.

(7)アウト( = auto)　to be in trouble, to be sucked

(8) He said that because this clip is for promoting a movie theater!

(9) 〜わけない ( = wakenai) There is no way to ~

Ex.マギーが私のこと好きなわけない。

( = Maggie wa watashi no koto sukina wake nai.)

There is no way that Maggie likes me.

If you have learned enough 若者言葉 ( = Wakamono kotoba) try to watch the different version of Paper Rabbit! There are tons of them! like 「まじっすか？」( = Majissuka?), Really?,No kidding!

Click here!

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

私ももう４歳だから若者言葉にはついていけないわ。

( = Watashi mo mou yonsai dakara wakamono kotoba ni wa tsuite ikenaiwa.)

I am already 4 years old. I can’t catch up with young people’s language..