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What is the meaning of やべ?

seasurfer said:
Can anyone kindly tell me the meaning of やべ? Thanks in advance.
Most likely the original word was やばい which turns into やべ~, やべっ! and similar for emphasis in a rather slangy way.

やばい (adj) (sl) dangerous
 
PaulTB said:
Most likely the original word was やばい which turns into やべ~, やべっ! and similar for emphasis in a rather slangy way.

やばい (adj) (sl) dangerous

But I feel that it does not fit the meaning of the context. May be I am wrong...

The whole sentence is:

やべ!イルカ先生だ。

I got this sentence from the Manga Naruto...does it still mean dangerous?
 
seasurfer said:
やべ!イルカ先生だ。

I got this sentence from the Manga Naruto...does it still mean dangerous?
Yup.

Loosely translated that would be "Watch out! It's Iruka."

In the same way as あぶない means dangerous (as in あぶない趣味の練習に付き合うな!) but is also used on its own to mean 'watch out' or 'duck'
 
PaulTB said:
Yup.

Loosely translated that would be "Watch out! It's Iruka."

In the same way as あぶない means dangerous (as in あぶない趣味の練習に付き合うな!) but is also used on its own to mean 'watch out' or 'duck'

Thanks for telling me, I understand now. The feeling is so nice...to discuss things that you don't know here...👍 👍
 
Well I was told by a friend of mine that it's use as slang means like "oh no!" or "aw man XD" similar to だめ but mostly used among younger (teen) males.
 
^
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yeah i was going to say "oh no". could also be translated as depending on how serious it is "****" (eg you look at your watch and you've got -30 seconds before the train leaves!)
 
i was in that situation yesterday.. had -30 secs until the train left..

just got to the platform and the train was just about to leave.. so i though "f**k it"...

the conductor stuck his head out the window and said "you going on this train?" so i said "yeah, but i need to get a ticket from the machine too.. so i'll be another 30-45 secs.. " and he says "don't worry about it, we'll hold the train.."

daym i love that guy..

just felt i wanted to say that ^^ ok, the thread is yours again, back on topic.
 
It's interesting to think about the difference between "yabai" and "abunai".

"Yabai" ("ai" turns to "ee" in Tokyo slang) is more about the fact that you are going to get into trouble because another person has discovered what is going on. Or, like the example about missing the train, the feeling is "if I don't do something about this situation, things are not going to go how I want them to go".

"Abunai" is slightly more specific, like you are going to sustain a physical injury because of what is happening.

I guess the two words are quite similar, but to me, "yabai" is more likely to be used in a situation where you are going to be humiliated in some way, while "abunai" is more about an injury or other physical damage.
 
やべ and あぶね are exchangable with each other.
やばい and あぶない are also exchangable with each other.
They have the same meaning and the usage is the matter of preference or habit.
 
If you were in the process of comitting a crime and you were caught by someone, you would be much more likely to yell "yabai!" then run away.

If someone was about to be hit by a car, you would be much more likely to yell "abunai!" to get them to jump clear.

Theoretically you could use the alternative in each situation, but it's less likely.

Here we are talking about exclamations only, of course. In other situations the two words are much less interchangeable. In more general use, "abunai" tends to refer more to what in English we call "danger", while "yabai" is more like "dubious" or "dodgy" (in UK slang).
 
Your explanation is not wrong, but is rather misleading.
We cannot use 'yabai' in formal situations. 'yabai' is a slang.
The usage of 'yabai' is a personality (educational level) matter rather than a situation matter.

犯罪に関わるような状況で使う言葉ではなく,(もともとは)犯罪に関わるような人が使う言葉です。
今は,マンガやテレビの影響で多くの若い人が(特に子ども)が使いますが,「まともな」大人は今でも使いません。自分の子どもが「やべー」と言えば,「そのような言葉を使うものではありません」と注意する親もいれば,自分自身が「やべー」と言う親もいます。

また,「あぶない」は標準的な言葉ですが,「やばい」には方言的な側面もあります。つまり使われ方に地域差があるということです。
 
Well that is a good explanation so I'll translate it.

犯罪に関わるような状況で使う言葉ではなく,(もともとは)犯罪に関わるような人が使う言葉で す。
Rather than being a word that you use in situations relating to crime, it was originally a word used by people likely to be involved in criminal activity.

今は,マンガやテレビの影響で多くの若い人が(特に子ども)が使いますが,「まともな」大人は今でも使いま せん。
Now it is used by a lot of younger people (particularly children) due to the influence of manga and television, but even these days "mainstream" adults don't use it.

自分の子どもが「やべー」と言えば,「そのような言葉を使うものではありません」と注意する親もいれ ば,自分自身が「やべー」と言う親もいます。
Although there are some parents who would scold their children if they used "yabe-", saying "you shouldn't use that kind of language", there are also parents who would say "yabe-" themselves.

また,「あぶない」は標準的な言葉ですが,「やばい」には方言的な側面もあります。つまり使われ方に地域差 があるということです。
Also, "abunai" is standard Japanese, but "yabai" also has an aspect of dialect to it. That is, the use of "yabai" is influenced by the region of Japan that the speaker comes from.
 
*tosses まずい into the discussion, stirs briskly*

If you're reading manga or watching anime, you're going to come across all three of these words used as exclamations a lot. As wakaP pointed out, words like やべー are more likely to be used in manga and on TV by young people than they are in real life by adults. A lot of the time the meaning will "stretch" accordingly as well--for example, あまい literally means 'sweet' but is also used to refer to someone who is naive or unskilled; the English equivalent would be 'soft'. You can see from Paul's explanation how やばい might have a sense of danger but not necessarily that exact meaning. Likewise まずい (which you're bound to run across) literally means 'bad' or 'unappetizing', but that description can be extended beyond food to a situation, in much the same way as one would say "the situation has gone sour" in English. These three words seem to me to be the major ones used in manga and anime as a sort of warning or declaration, but I'm certain one could sit down and write out a fairly extensive list.

If I can sidestep the whole thing for a second, I'd like to make a quick manga recommendation to seasurfer. I have all of the available manga volumes of Naruto myself, so I'm aware of both the content and structure of the Japanese used. One of the things you're going to find very quickly (if you don't know already...been a while since I read Volume 1) is that everyone uses a lot of slang and extraneous language that might be more frustrating than helpful as a tool for learning Japanese. If you have access (and interest), I would recommend picking up the Fullmetal Alchemist manga and reading through that before you go back to Naruto. I find FMA to be an excellent learning tool as some characters speak slang or their own style of Japanese while others speak very proper. In addition, the content ranges from short exchanges during battles to waxing philosophic, going from slang and street conversation styles to a more academic tone. Naruto, while a fun read, does not have this balance.
 
jonny-mt said:
*tosses まずい into the discussion, stirs briskly*

If you're reading manga or watching anime, you're going to come across all three of these words used as exclamations a lot. As wakaP pointed out, words like やべー are more likely to be used in manga and on TV by young people than they are in real life by adults. A lot of the time the meaning will "stretch" accordingly as well--for example, あまい literally means 'sweet' but is also used to refer to someone who is naive or unskilled; the English equivalent would be 'soft'. You can see from Paul's explanation how やばい might have a sense of danger but not necessarily that exact meaning. Likewise まずい (which you're bound to run across) literally means 'bad' or 'unappetizing', but that description can be extended beyond food to a situation, in much the same way as one would say "the situation has gone sour" in English. These three words seem to me to be the major ones used in manga and anime as a sort of warning or declaration, but I'm certain one could sit down and write out a fairly extensive list.

If I can sidestep the whole thing for a second, I'd like to make a quick manga recommendation to seasurfer. I have all of the available manga volumes of Naruto myself, so I'm aware of both the content and structure of the Japanese used. One of the things you're going to find very quickly (if you don't know already...been a while since I read Volume 1) is that everyone uses a lot of slang and extraneous language that might be more frustrating than helpful as a tool for learning Japanese. If you have access (and interest), I would recommend picking up the Fullmetal Alchemist manga and reading through that before you go back to Naruto. I find FMA to be an excellent learning tool as some characters speak slang or their own style of Japanese while others speak very proper. In addition, the content ranges from short exchanges during battles to waxing philosophic, going from slang and street conversation styles to a more academic tone. Naruto, while a fun read, does not have this balance.

Thanks for your advice, I really have difficulty understanding Naruto in Japanese...to many slangs....and I have no where to find the meaning of those slang's grammar....

Fullmetal Alchemist, thought I never read before, since you recommend it...I will try to find it...thanks.
 
I found this example in Love Hina volume 1.

On page 47, Shinobu-chan is hopping along the roof, and Keitaro says "Abunai yo", scared she might fall off. Then on page 50, he accidentally lies to her and says he is a Tokyo university student, and when he realizes he has actually really lied for the first time about his situation, Keitaro says "Yaba!?" So the same person can use each word in different situations, but the difference is the first is about physical danger, while the second is related to something that he doesn't want to be discovered, a "crime".
 
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