Learn some common Japanese slang
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Intro |
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| Michael: What is Japanese slang like? |
| Risa: And is it commonly used? |
| Michael: At JapanesePod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Sasha is chatting about an unusual occurrence at school with her friend. She says, |
| "She brought her cat to school." |
| Sasha Lee: 彼女、猫を学校に連れてきたよ。 (Kanojo, neko o gakkō ni tsurete kita yo.) |
| Dialogue |
| Sasha Lee: 彼女、猫を学校に連れてきたよ。 (Kanojo, neko o gakkō ni tsurete kita yo.) |
| Shin Ishikawa: マジ？ (Maji?) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Sasha Lee: 彼女、猫を学校に連れてきたよ。 (Kanojo, neko o gakkō ni tsurete kita yo.) |
| Michael: "She brought her cat to school. " |
| Shin Ishikawa: マジ？ (Maji?) |
| Michael: "Seriously?!" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Slang is an aspect of language that isn’t usually taught in the classroom, but it can be important for becoming proficient. Slang indicates a set of words and expressions, used by a group of people to better convey feelings and implied concepts. Slang is usually an aspect of the colloquial language, and, for this reason, it changes really quickly or differs from one group to the other. In Japanese, "slang" is |
| Risa: 俗語 (zokugo) or スラング (surangu) |
| Michael: Let’s start with a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Sasha says "She brought her cat to school?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Risa as Sasha Lee: 彼女、猫を学校に連れてきたよ。 (Kanojo, neko o gakkō ni tsurete kita yo.) |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember what slang expression Sasha's friend uses to mean "Seriously?!" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Risa as Shin Ishikawa: マジ？ (Maji?) |
| Michael: Many think that this expression is a shortened form of |
| Risa: 真面目 (majime) |
| Michael: which means "serious." It's often used by young people. You can use this slang expression on it's own, as an exclamation to mean "seriously?" or "really?", or you can use it in a sentence, for example |
| Risa: このレッスンはマジ面白い！(Kono ressun wa maji omoshiroi!) |
| Michael: which means "This lesson is really interesting!" It's common also to hear a slightly different variation |
| Risa: マジで (Maji de), for example このレッスンはマジで面白い！(Kono ressun wa maji de omoshiroi!) |
| Michael: Another slang expression common mostly among young people is |
| Risa: やばい (yabai) |
| Michael: This word has a few different meanings. When used as an exclamation (yabai!), it usually indicates that something is wrong and roughly means "oh no!" or "shoot!" When used to describe something, it can have both a good meaning and a bad meaning depending on the context. For example, |
| Risa: この映画はやばい！ (Kono eiga wa yabai!) |
| Michael: could either mean that the movie was great or that it was bad. Ok, now let's see a couple of expressions with verbs, the first is |
| Risa: チンする (chin suru) |
| Michael: which means "heat up in a microwave." This word is a combination of the onomatopoeia |
| Risa: チン (chin), |
| Michael: which is the sound of a microwave, and the verb |
| Risa: する (suru), |
| Michael: meaning "to do." You can use this verb to indicate the action of heating up some food or drink in a microwave. For example, |
| Risa: お昼にレトルトカレーをチンして食べました。(O-hiru ni retoruto karē o chin shite tabemashita.) |
| Michael: which means "I ate retort curry at noon, after heating it up in the microwave." The next slang verb is |
| Risa: ポイする (poi suru) |
| Michael: meaning "throw away." This is a combination word of the onomatopoeia |
| Risa: ポイ (poi), |
| Michael: which refers to the action of "throwing away something nonchalantly," and |
| Risa: する (suru), |
| Michael: meaning "to do." Let's hear an example sentence |
| Risa: 使い終わったら、ポイしてください。(Tsukaiowattara, poi shite kudasai.) |
| Michael: which means "When you finish using it, please just throw it away." Our last slang word is |
| Risa: チャリ (chari) |
| Michael: which means "bike." This slang comes from the sound of the bell on a bike. It's also referred to as |
| Risa: チャリンコ (charinko) |
| Michael: You can use it when you want to refer to a bike, especially a city cycle. Let's hear a sample sentence |
| Risa: 毎朝チャリで駅に行きます。(Maiasa chari de eki ni ikimasu.) |
| Michael: which means "I go to the station by bicycle every morning." If you want to learn more slang expressions, make sure to check our Must-Know Japanese Slang Words &Phrases series! |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: As you might know, if you have Japanese friends, when it comes to colloquial expressions, Japanese can be a very colorful language. The only downside is that many slang words, if used in the wrong context, sound childish and sometimes offensive. For example, let's consider |
| Risa: 超 (chō) |
| Michael: which is a slangy adverb that usually comes before adjectives to emphasize them, making this word the equivalent of "very," "so," or "really." If you use it in a formal situation, you'd definitely sound childish. For example, if you’re talking with your young classmates, you can say |
| Risa: 超難しい (chō muzukashii) |
| Michael: which means "very difficult," but conveys also a little of your emotions. Therefore, if you're talking to your teacher you'd better use an expression such as |
| Risa: とても難しい (totemo muzukashii) |
| Michael: which sounds neutral. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Risa: またね！ (Mata ne!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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