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Today’s theme is… again INSULTS! For today, the focus will be on insulting words or phrases that are a little more “sophisticated.” Some of them are less insulting than merely very harsh or critical. Thus, they are somewhat more rare than the first list of insults. Nevertheless, you will definitely come across all these words sooner or later if you watch enough anime.
I actually wrote most of this yesterday. There were just too many harsh and demeaning words floating around in my head – the evidence of years of avid anime-watching….
1. MEZAWARI = eyesore
Example: When someone or something is viewed as being an obtrusion or bringing unpleasant thoughts/feelings/etc. The person who says this usually has the intention of “getting rid” of the unpleasant obtrusion.
2. SHITSUKOI = annoyingly persistant
Example: “shitsukoi na yatsu da na” = “You really don’t give up, do you?” (in an ironic, irritated tone)
3. KUDARANAI = ridiculous, worthless
Example: Often said about plans, ideas or stories: “not even worth listening to!”
4. JAMA MONO = person/thing who gets in the way, a hindrance
Example: “jama mono wa zenbu kowasu!” = “I’ll destroy everything that gets in my way!”
5. HIKYOU MONO = coward, treacherous person
Example: Often said of someone who uses “cowardly tricks” or deception to win a fight, rather than fighting fair and square.
6. KIMOCHI WARUI = creepy, disgusting (lit. bad feeling)
Example: Said about anything from scary bugs, to creepy perverts, to weird or dirty places. Can even be said about phrases/people that are too strongly affectionate, making one feel unsettled or embarrassed.
7. YAKAMASHII = noisy, “shut up!”
Example: A strict sort of character has had enough of fooling around. The same meaning as “urusai,” just more strong-sounding.
8. YOWAI/YOWEE = weak
Example: “omae hontou ni yowee na” = “You really are weak!”
9. KEGARAWASHII= filthy, unclean
Example: In Japanese contempt is often shown by calling someone “filthy.” This is often said to someone who is supposedly of a lower class, has impure blood, or is “stained,” “untouchable,” etc.
10. USUGITANAI = dirty
Example: Often said of someone who is tricky and underhanded (figuratively dirty). Also literally dirty, as in unclean.
I’m actually totally addicted to playing Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon for DS right now, so… looks like it’ll be another quick-post today!
Today’s theme is… INSULTS (slangy ones)! Or other bad, rude, or otherwise harmful and offensive words you might commonly hear in anime! This post is a little silly and is meant to be taken in a light-hearted fashion. Please don’t try to use these words.
1. BAKA = stupid
Example: “baka domo me!” = “You damn idiots!” (domo gives you plural, me can be attached to almost any word that refers to a person/people to show contempt for them)
Variations: baka yarou (stupid guy), bakageta (foolish), baka mono (stupid person/people)
2. KUSO = shit
Example: Can be used as an exclaimation, a noun, or an adjective. “kuso gaki” = “damn kid!”
Vairations: kusotare (something like, “piece of shit”)
3. HETA = incompetent
Example: Hetalia, the popular and sort of controversial short anime series, is “heta” and “Italia” (Italy) combined, because the character Italy is hilariously stupid and incompetent.
Variations: hetakuso (useless, incompetent person)
4. AHOU = dumbass, idiot
Example: “omae ahou ka!” = “You a dumbass or what!”
5. BOKE = foolish, airheaded person
Example: When someone’s fooling around or acting stupidly in a way that they don’t usually, their friends might call them “boke!” Not a very harsh word.
6. BUSU = ugly woman
Example: When someone wants to really offend a girl, calling them stupid, uncool, useless, etc, just isn’t enough. “busu” is probably one of the worst things to say to a girl.
7. DASAI/DASEE = uncool
Example: When a guy screws up something or does something in a non-cool or non-manly fashion, other guys say/think, “dasee na.”
8. UZAI/UZEE = annoying, fussy, depressing
Example: “maji uzai nda mon!” = “Man, it’s just such a drag!”
9. BUTA = pig
Example: “kono buta!” = “You pig!” Basically the same usage as in English – for fat, ugly, gross, perverted, etc, people.
10. GERO = vomit
Example: “gero ga deru hodo” = “so much it makes me wanna puke”/”until I vomit”
Today’s theme is… i adjectives!
There are two types of adjectives in Japanese. i and na. What’s the difference between i and na adjectives? Well, i adjectives all end in i and are used in basically the same way as adjectives in English: that is, if used to describe a noun, they don’t require anything else to precede the noun being described. You just put the adjective and the noun together one after the other.
na adjectives on the other hand require na to be inserted between the adjective and the noun being described. For example, ookii na inu means “big dog.”
Also, i adjectives can be inflected to become adverbs (example: sugoi = sugoku) and also have a past tense (example: warui = warukatta). na adjectives don’t have inflections.
1. SUGOI = great, awesome
Example: Sometimes used adjectivally: “sugoku ureshii” = “extremely glad”
2. II (also YOI) = good, fine
Example: “ii ko” = “good boy/girl”
3. WARUI= bad
Example: Common phrase used in anime with fight scenes: “waruku omou na yo” = “Don’t think badly of me”/”It’s nothing personal”
4. HAYAI = fast/early
Example: Also used in anime during fight scenes: “hayai!” = “He’s fast!” or “hayasugiru!” = “Too fast!”
5. OSOI = slow
Example: “osoku natta” = “I became late” = “I’m late”
6. CHIKAI = near
Example: “chikai tokoro” = “a place close by”
7. TOOI = far
Example: “tooi omoide” = “faraway memories”
8. KAKKOII = cool, good-looking
Example: You can also say “kakkowarui” which means just the opposite.
9. AOI = blue (technically, blue, green, or just a pale shade in general)
Example: “aoi sora” = “blue sky”
10. AKAI = red
Example: “akai hitomi” = “red eyes”
かわいいね
kawaii ne
“You’re cute, aren’t you?”
Listen to Soubi from Loveless say this phrase!
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kawaii = cute
ne = “asking for agreement” particle
kawaii 可愛い
Kanji literally indicate “capable of (arousing) affection,” or “loveable.”
Examples of how to use kawaii:
kawaii neko = cute cat
kawaii kaban ga hoshii = I want a cute bag.
kawaiku nai yo = That’s not cute!
kawaii is possibly the most famous “otaku speak” word there is. Well, even if you already knew what this word means, at least now you know how it should properly sound and how to write it in hiragana and kanji!
By the way… who is Soubi referring to here? 12-year old Ritsuka, of course! (he is a pedophile, get over it)
オレ馬鹿(ばか)もの大嫌(だいきら)い
ore baka mono daikirai
I thought this was a little funny, so here you go! It’s quite straightforward. I’ll explain a few things:
1. All the particles are missing in this sentence. It is not a “model Japanese” sentence, but it does reflect the way many anime characters speak (and some real people, too!) Ritsuka often tends to talk like this, omitting “unnecessary” words whenever he can. It lends him an air of not really caring, of being tight-lipped, of being childish, and somewhat delinquent. The proper sentence should be “ore wa baka mono ga daikirai.”
2. baka is an adjective (also a noun). It means stupid. It also happens to be a “na-” adjective, which means that if used to describe a noun, you must put a “na” between the adj and the noun. For example, “baka na hito.” (“Stupid person”) In this case, however, “baka mono” is actually more like one word (it’s a set phrase) so the “usual rule” doesn’t apply.
3. kirai means dislike. daikirai means really dislike, “hate.” kirai/daikirai are the opposite of suki/daisuki and are used in pretty much exactly the same manner.
Listen to Ritsuka from Loveless say this phrase!
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ore = I (masculine)
baka = stupid
mono = people
daikirai = hate
かっこいいから
kakkoii kara
Just as you might call a girl cute (kawaii) or pretty (kirei), if you want to call a guy cool or good-looking, you say “kakkoii.” It’s not really the same as “cool” in English, really, but it has that same sort of slangy/school kid kind of feeling to it. Also, I don’t think it’s used to describe girls much at all.
kakkoii is actually composed of two words, “kakkou” (form/appearance) and “ii” (good).
“kara” is pretty simple. Just means “because…” “since…” and it goes at the end of a sentence.
Listen to Yuiko from Loveless say this phrase!
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kakkoii = cool
kara = because
好(す)きだよ
suki da yo
If you ever watch Loveless (or any other romance for that matter), you’ll probably hear this phrase quite overused. Yes, it means “I love you.” Yes, it also means “I like you.” And it’s not just used for people, it can be used to show liking for anything: food, activities, objects. In reality – in most cases anyway – I think the only time this would be used between people is during a confession of love. This is not something you should ever expect to be saying or hearing constantly (despite what Soubi might lead you to think!).
Let me try to explain this in more detail. Generally, “suki” just means to like something, whereas “daisuki” (大好き) means a particularly strong liking, or “love.” However… in practice, people rarely say “daisuki” to other people; to say “daisuki” to someone sounds childish and maybe even superficial. It’s kind of like comparing saying “I reaaally like you” (childish giggle) to “I like you” (confessional).
Listen to Soubi from Loveless say this phrase!
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suki = like
da = “to be”
yo = emphatic particle
平気(へいき)だよ
heiki da yo
“heiki” is a word you’ll commonly hear from young guys (less often gals) in anime who want to appear cool and self-sufficient. It’s a kind of slangy expression that literally means “calm/unconcerned” but has evolved to mean “cool” (as in, “Everything’s cool with me”) or more generally, “fine/all right.”
Also note that “heiki” is a “-na” adjective, which means that if used to describe a noun, “na” must precede the noun.
Notice how confident Oz sounds when he says this. That’s because unlike more general expressions like “daijoubu,” the point of saying “heiki” is specifically to reassure someone that nothing’s wrong, everything’s good.
Listen to Oz from Pandora Hearts say “heiki da yo”
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heiki = fine, okay
da = “is”
yo = emphasis
やばい
yabai
Like “abunai,” another word that means “dangerous.” Also like “abunai,” this word can also be simply exclaimed by itself to mean, roughly, “This is bad!” or “Watch out” Technically, “yabai” is a slang word (as seen by the fact that there is no representative kanji), and it has a more coarse, “Oh shit” kind of vibe to it. It can also be used in non-dangerous situations to mean “not good,” “bad situation.”
Listen to Abel from Trinity Blood say “yabai desu yo” (“This is dangerous.”)
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yabai = dangerous
desu = polite form of “to be”
yo = emphasis
危ない (あぶない)
abunai
Because there are so many dangerous situations in anime, one of the most commonly heard expressions is “abunai.” It is an adjective that literally means “dangerous,” but it is often shouted to mean “Watch out!” “Danger!”
Listen to Abel from Trinity Blood say “abunai!”
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