Japanese Slang...

[Exidez]

I am in japan at the moment and am planning to stay here for a year. As part of my visa i have to attend school. I have noticed in the school that they use a lot of slang and common phrases which I hadn't learnt at home.
Is there a page that has (correct!) translations of the common slang used..

here is a couple that i have picked up along the way.
やばくない ＝ great", "cool" and "cute" it has many meaning apparently
すげえ ＝ すごい ＝ great
チョー = Really, its like 本当に
まじで = Really?
ちんする = microwave
うざい = this one is hard to explain.... i kind of understand it but i cant explain it....
うるせい （うるさい？） = shut up
いて = 痛い = ouch!


Also I'm in Aomori prefecture and they kind of use a different dialect which is hard to understand. Is there something that cam help me get use to all the slang and the Aomori dialect?

 

[Mandylion]

True, most of Japanese that people use everyday will not be covered in the classroom (don't let that discourage you though!) Your translations are basically correct and I will leave others to comment at greater length.

I think "chou" / チョー is very more as a degree of something like "totemo" / とても would be. But this is kind of a gray area for me. My generation came before the chou craze.

I think "yabakunai" やばくない is the negative form of yabai / やばい ? But I could be wrong, or it could be an Aomori thing. I am not responsible for what cold does to their brains

"chinsuru" / ちんする is used as a verb (hence the suru part). The "chin" comes from the sound your microwave makes when it is done (even though mine plays a song)

As for getting used to Aomori ben, do you live with a host family? They would probably love to teach you. Also, your school's Japanese teacher will probably have fun helping, and I am sure there is a book or two out there. Head to your local store and ask the clerk. Plus they could probably order something.

Have you tried Amazon.co.jp? They have an English page (and no, it is not Amazon.com). That is about all I can think of now. Good luck.

 

[Exidez]

I think "yabakunai" やばくない is the negative form of yabai / やばい ? But I could be wrong, or it could be an Aomori thing. I am not responsible for what cold does to their brains

i thought this when i herd it to, but i asked a friend who is living in sendai and she said it had those meainings..

i used it saying 滑ることがやばくない。but apparenlty its wrong.... its not supose to contain any particles. i needed to omit the ga. Strange...

also, im here for a year, so i spose i will get use to the aomori dialect

 

[Teppei]

I live in Aomori too.

I think "やばくない?" is interrogative and it means "It's terrific, isn't it?"

"うざい" is the shortened form of "うざったい" and it means "annoying", "disgusting" or "confusing".

 

[Ewok85]

I found most adjective slang was with the i turned to e, ie: うるせ（い） おせえ （遅い） でけえ （でかい ＝ 大きい）
うるさい is used either as 'shutup' or 'your noisy/annoying' (and so be quiet!) and i think うざい has the same meaning. うせえ and うざい mean it too

まじで or まじ mean like ほんと, 'really?'. say まじで、でじま、まじでじま see if you get a reaction

超 （ちょう） means alot, like とても

いて has become a bit of a habit for me... doing a martial art you pick it up and i still say いて and あつえ （あつい）

Talk with the kids, if you dont know ask them, they'll explain it and more

As for the oimori-ben... your on your own, i met some people from akita and couldnt understand a word (or my tokyo host-dad)

 

[Exidez]

ok there is also onother one i forgot to mention
thsi is `bimyou` 微妙（びみょう）
the dictionary said like delicate or sumthing like that, but i think its a slang that means "you dont really like it"
is this right?

 

[Teppei]

"bimyou" 微妙 means "delicate" and "not clear".
But it's often used in some different meanings that I don't understand.

You can read tons of sentences that don't make sense here: Search 微妙 in Google

 

[Ewok85]

I think it means strange... but thats just me

 

[PaulTB]

Slang word of the day :

レズる

 

[Ewok85]

Do I want to know?

 

[PaulTB]

Do i want to know?

Well as you know nouns are usually turned into verbs with する
however there are a few where る has been added.
Given that, then yes, it probably means exactly what you think it means.

 

[Ewok85]

LOL

I also like katakana slang, back-finish being an interesting one i heard once.... after doing the deed finish up with well, i should stop now

Also some of the slang-like grammar can make you sound more natural, -chau is a common one

 

[PaulTB]

Also some of the slang-like grammar can make you sound more natural, -chau is a common one

One I've come across recently is that
食べちまう (&such) is allegedly more 'manly' than 食べちゃう (although I think it depends on the region). (IIRC)

I'm not sure whether エグい is slang or not - but I think it should be used more often.

 

[Exidez]

could someone please correct me on this
is this tsugaruben (津軽弁）, the language used in the aomori prefecture, or is this just normal slang?

eg

わかねぇ = わからない （also they drop off the ra eg. わかない）
しらねぇ ＝ しらない
はいぇ ＝ はやい
すげぇ ＝ すごい

i dont know if the spelling is right... but the sound is the same if you know what i mean

 

[mdchachi]

could someone please correct me on this
is this tsugaruben (津軽弁), the language used in the aomori prefecture, or is this just normal slang?

This is just normal slang that you hear on the streets and on tv. Though I imagine the intonation of the Aomori-min would be different than Tokyo-min. If you spend enough time in Aomori and get fluent in it, maybe you can become a tarento on Japanese terebi.

 

[NANGI]

Konnichiwa Exidez-san!

"わがねぇ" and "すらねぇ" are Tsugaru-ben, but "はいぇ" and "すげぇ" are used normally in all over the country.

NANGI

 

[PaulTB]

Hmm, time for another 'slang of the day'.

夜露死苦 ( よろしく )

 

[Gaki]

Hmm, time for another 'slang of the day'.

夜露死苦 ( よろしく )

Ahhhh Bousouzoku text.

I know a few of those but my pc is stupid and cant type Japanese.

Only one i can type in English is "4649" means yoroshiku as well.

 

[PaulTB]

Slang of the day again.
Hmm, let's see ... ちんぴら

 

[rquethe]

Slang of the day again.
Hmm, let's see ... ちんぴら

Does this word mean "punk?"

 

[PaulTB]

Does this word mean "punk?"

Yup (as in hoodlum). All my slang comes from the very best contexts ;-)

 

[PaulTB]

Slang of the day.
Well, actually, I don't know for certain that it is slang. It's the word ひっかけばし which I found in the following quiz question.

ひっかけばしと関係無いのは？

ギターで歌っている兄ちゃん。
ホストのど派手な兄ちゃん。
聖書を持って外人の兄ちゃん。
グリコの看板。

I also have no idea what グリコ is - but I do know what a ホストのど派手な兄ちゃん is ^^v

 

[Elizabeth]

Not sure about their signboard, but I think Gulico is a company.

 

[one2hit]

やおい - gay man sex

ゆり - gay lady sex

XP

 

[Elizabeth]

Is that from the lily ゆり？