Question for Japanese readers on the word 男の子

[GenkaiPower]

https://media.discordapp.net/attach...t=webp&quality=lossless&width=1134&height=952

I was wondering if 男の子 can be used to refer to a young adult male, because the character they are referring to is 18-19 years old or could be 20. I am confused because two others characters, who are 18, are referred to as 男 (adult male).

Here does it just emphasize that he's young and does not mean that he's literally a child?

 

[nice gaijin]

if I saw 男の子 I would assume the subject was a child or pre-teen, aka 少年. I'm not sure if there's a hard line when one word is right and another is wrong, like 若者／若いもの, as "young" is a relative term... but I think 青年 could refer to a young adult, but still has a tint of adolescence to it.

 

[mdchachi]

It can refer to young adults as well. Also 18-19 is not an adult in Japan; the age of adulthood is 20. It's only recently that 18 year olds got some of the rights of adulthood (ie now they can sign their own cell phone contract etc.).

 

[Toritoribe]

https://media.discordapp.net/attach...t=webp&quality=lossless&width=1134&height=952

I was wondering if 男の子 can be used to refer to a young adult male, because the character they are referring to is 18-19 years old or could be 20. I am confused because two others characters, who are 18, are referred to as 男 (adult male).

Here does it just emphasize that he's young and does not mean that he's literally a child?

It seems to me that she is using the word as someone who doesn't need to be responsible, who should be protected or something along the line. Those words are not always distinguished depending on the age. For example, 男 can be used for a little boy in the same reason. The following lines are from a song lyrics describing the wedding day from the bride's viewpoint.

幼い弟 行くなと泣いた
男だったら 泣いたりせずに
父さん母さん 大事にしてね

Her younger brother would be an elementary school student, I think, but he is called 男 here.

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

Manga, 1 scene of the Fairy Tale Episode 529 "teacher".

As it is spoiled the story, I cannot talk, but "Natsu" is not the age of the appearance.
The severe fate that was assigned to Natsu. I call you "男の子(boy)" to emphasize the unreasonableness.

 

[GenkaiPower]

Manga, 1 scene of the Fairy Tale Episode 529 "teacher".

As it is spoiled the story, I cannot talk, but "Natsu" is not the age of the appearance.
The severe fate that was assigned to Natsu. I call you "男の子(boy)" to emphasize the unreasonableness.

Sorry for the late reply
but in this context it has nothing to do with age and emphasizes that its harsh?
he could be 20 and called that?

 

[GenkaiPower]

It seems to me that she is using the word as someone who doesn't need to be responsible, who should be protected or something along the line. Those words are not always distinguished depending on the age. For example, 男 can be used for a little boy in the same reason. The following lines are from a song lyrics describing the wedding day from the bride's viewpoint.

幼い弟 行くなと泣いた
男だったら 泣いたりせずに
父さん母さん 大事にしてね

Her younger brother would be an elementary school student, I think, but he is called 男 here.

Hello so the the age doesn't matter and he could be 20 and called that in this context?

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

Sorry for the late reply
but in this context it has nothing to do with age and emphasizes that its harsh?
he could be 20 and called that?

You have the question that you are similar to you for this Q&A site, and please refer to it as there is the answer from a woman.

(Question)
What do you mean by calling the man of adult that a woman was over 20 years old "Otoko no ko"?

(answer)
"男性 (Dansei) Though when say ", the opposite sex gets a feeling;" 男の子 (Otoko no ko) When "says, a feeling of younger person becomes strong, and do you not seem to be seen as the opposite sex?

I am "男性 (Dansei) in 5 years or older younger people As there is resistance to say "and", "男の子 (Oyoko no hito) I say ".

If he exceeds 20 years old in students; "男の子 (Otoko no ko) I say ".

Though I become 30 incidentally
From an older person "女の子(Onna no ko) "Is said.

女性が20歳も過ぎた大人の男を「男の子」と呼ぶのはどういう意味ですか? - 下手すると、25歳を過ぎた男にも「男の子」という人が居... - Yahoo!知恵袋

女性が20歳も過ぎた大人の男を「男の子」と呼ぶのはどういう意味ですか? 下手すると、25歳を過ぎた男にも「男の子」という人が居ます（これは年配の女性ですが）25歳と言っても、冷静に考えれば、もう人生も3分の１ぐらい過ぎている年齢かもしれません。これぐらいの年齢の男性なら、本当の「男の子」の子供が居てもおかしくないですし、実際に子供も居ます。しかし、その女性からは、息子の様な年齢だから「男の子」と言われてしま...

detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp

 

[Toritoribe]

Hello so the the age doesn't matter and he could be 20 and called that in this context?

It's not "the age doesn't matter at all". It's possible that a 20 years old man is called 男の子, as Nagashima-san, wrote, but a man in his 30's wouldn't be called 男の子.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

It's not "the age doesn't matter at all". It's possible that a 20 years old man is called 男の子, as Nagashima-san, wrote, but a man in his 30's wouldn't be called 男の子.

Not normally, but this discussion reminds me of the movie "Grumpy Old Men". The 94 year old father is talking to his son in his 70's and calls him a kid. Normally we wouldn't call someone in their 70's a kid, but it's all context driven.

Look at the 2:00 mark, where the father calls his son a kid. It's funnier if you watch the leadup to this moment. Actually, I recommend you watch the entire thing. This whole video is just Burgess Meredith being hilarious.

 

[Toritoribe]

Well, a 94 year old father wouldn't call his son in his 70's 男の子 in Japanese even in that situation. ガキ would be the equivalent.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Yeah, but who says even that to a guy in his 70's?

 

[Haruto Uzumaki]

I'd like to add my two cents here
In my experience, talking to a lot of Japanese men, they refer to women they're interested in as a whole, whether adult or children (because unfortunately I know some interested in children...), they use vocabulary such as 女の子 or 女子. I think the reason for this is simple and the same as in English. When we refer to someone as a "woman", there is a matured and aged aspect or connotation to it, as if the word can make the woman less youthful by description.
However, referring to that same woman as a "girl", or just referring to "girls" in general highlights their youth and, in a non-negatively connotative way, their "immaturity", which (I've seen) is typically more of a preference for girls who want to be perceived as young or fertile, so to speak. Essentially, the embracement of the connotations related to the word "woman" may also entail letting go of your youthful image.
I also want to point out that to me, I have a sense of the "passionate" type of love when people refer to women as 女の子 or 女子. Meaning, they're interested in the girl to "enjoy" them. Another way I could possibly describe it is young love.

Similarly, if I think of women in even in their 20s, they may often refer to men of their age group as "boys" still. It doesn't literally mean that they're talking about underage boys in this case, but it highlights the youth and avoids the mature connotation that comes with such a word like "man". In fact, the only time I hear women using the word "men" is when they have something negative to say about men as a whole, unfortunately.
All this to say, I think these words have very similar connotation rules in Japanese, and I've definitely seen countless cases of 女の子 referring to women over 20 or just women as a whole that people are interested in, and I don't see why that might not be the case for 男の子 as well.
As someone embraces their maturity and old age, at some point it becomes clear not to refer to them as such anymore. I'd like to see if there are any disagreements with what I've said