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Japanese Slang

Green44

先輩
22 Jan 2010
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So I was hanging out with some Japanese Students that were visiting America, and I speak very little Japanese being in Elementary JPN 1.
BUT, we still had a great time regardless of the language barrier.
There were several times where I would say "fail" or "no bueno" or "sad day" which all were poking fun at a situation but in a friendly way. Like my friend dropped her phone and I said "fail" something small and stupid like that.
SO
I was wondering if there was a Japanes equivalent to those type of phrases. One of the Japanese students said that fail in Japanese is しぱい (I dont know if I'm spelling that right), but would that word be used and understood in the context I'm explaining or is there a better phrase.
^_^
I know すごい と がんばって (i hope thats how you spell those words) and those are pretty slang words for 'awesome' and 'hang in there.'
This will expand my slang vocab. :p
 
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So I was hanging out with some Japanese Students that were visiting America, and I speak very little Japanese being in Elementary JPN 1.
BUT, we still had a great time regardless of the language barrier.
There were several times where I would say "fail" or "no bueno" or "sad day" which all were poking fun at a situation but in a friendly way. Like my friend dropped her phone and I said "fail" something small and stupid like that.
SO
I was wondering if there was a Japanes equivalent to those type of phrases. One of the Japanese students said that fail in Japanese is 窶堋オ窶堙鞘?堋「 (I dont know if I'm spelling that right), but would that word be used and understood in the context I'm explaining or is there a better phrase.
^_^
I know 窶堋キ窶堋イ窶堋「ツ 窶堙? 窶堋ェ窶堙ア窶堙寂?堙≫?堙 (i hope thats how you spell those words) and those are pretty slang words for 'awesome' and 'hang in there.'
This will expand my slang vocab. :p

None of those are slang, sorry.

Start looking into dialects from different areas of Japan and see what local slang they have. Although their are a few words that are recognised through out Japan, most slang is restricted to their specific regions. " ホンマニ" may be a slang word that most Japanese would recognise , it is slang for "really".
 
" ホンマニ" may be a slang word that most Japanese would recognise , it is slang for "really".
Really? I've heard it used in polite Kansai-ben talk and so believed it's more "dialect" than "slang."

It may depend on how you define slang, but to me examples of Japanese slang are:

Maji: From "majime" meaning "really?"

Moto-kano: From "moto" and "kanojo" meaning "former GF"

Ikemen: from "ikeru" (looks/tastes good) and "men" (face) for "good-looking guy"

If you go to 2-channel, you'll see more :oops:

JFYI, "sugoi" and "ganbatte" are merely colloquial, used by everybody.
 
Really? I've heard it used in polite Kansai-ben talk and so believed it's more "dialect" than "slang."

It may depend on how you define slang, but to me examples of Japanese slang are:
I suppose it does come down to the definition of slang and dialect. I am no linguist ,so I have nothing but my personal opinion, but I was under the impression that you could define slang as something that is anything other than hyoujyungo.

Eg, a getting in a fight in Australia is call "getting in a blue" , where "blue" is the slang. However in America if you said this you would be not understood. Granted they are two different countries, but taking that idea within Australia and there are plenty of words that are only used in certain regions but are still considered Australian slang.

I see the same thing here and with one of your examples,

Is Maji: From "majime" mainly used in the Kasai area in the form of "majide"?

Even looking up the definitions make differenciating them difficult.
 
Since my exposure to English is primarily via Americans, I still have a lot of trouble understanding English (UK) slang and am hopeless with Australian slang...
I have to rely on Japanese subtitles to appreciate Australian films! 😌

Regarding "maji," we hear "majide?" in Kanto, too.
I'm sure Dave already knows this, but "maji" can be used as an adverb, like:

Maji kirei: Really beautiful
Maji umee: Really (tastes) good! (Umee being the slangy form of "umai")
Maji mukatsuku: Really pisses me off!

...etc. 😊
 
There's ケーワイ (KY), from 空気が読めない (くうきが よめない), which means that you can't read the mood of a situation. I can't think of what we would call this type of person in English at the moment, aside from "dense."

I'm guessing this one is still used. Going by my podcasts it was used up until last year.

What about そんなの関係(かんけい)ねえ! I guess these would count as slang.

By the way, "fail" is しっぱい, not しぱい. You were close.
 
There's ケーワイ (KY), from 空気が読めない (くうきが よめない), which means that you can't read the mood of a situation. I can't think of what we would call this type of person in English at the moment, aside from "dense."

I'm guessing this one is still used. Going by my podcasts it was used up until last year.
Oh, yes! We still use it. I think it's here to stay for a while, with so many around (including some of my friends)... 😊
What about そんなの関係(かんけい)ねえ! I guess these would count as slang.
I think this one's already outdated. (So is the guy who started saying it. 😄 )
 
The first time I heard KY was during one of the 爆笑問題カーボイ podcasts I have, and I originally thought they had come up with it, but then I heard it on another one, and they used it in such a matter-of-fact way I figured it was part of the language. It cracked me up the first time I heard it.
 
It's not really "slang" but more of an annoyance. I think it's if you add the suffix -pyo (杓) after everything it's similar to some Americans using "like" a million times in one second... Correct me if I'm wrong... I know about 5 Japanese words but that's what I heard, I forget where I heard it...
 
It's not really "slang" but more of an annoyance. I think it's if you add the suffix -pyo (杓) after everything it's similar to some Americans using "like" a million times in one second... Correct me if I'm wrong... I know about 5 Japanese words but that's what I heard, I forget where I heard it...

Never heard of "the suffix -pyo (杓)"... could it be a different language from Japanese
 
Sorry for not responding a while. I actually have been chillin with some japanese foreign exchange students at the beach (I live in Florida, USA).
I like いけめん, I kept being called that by the students.
So an example of when I could use まじ is, "hey, I can do a frontflip!"
"まじ!"
I'm glad しっぱい is fail! (And thank you for correcting me) I'm totally going to use that one.
 
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