Help me slack off at school

[Ke11iente]

Hey guys! Working on a project here. Instead of actually going out and surveying real people, I thought I'd just ask all of you:

What's your favorite/ most useful/ most whatever Japanese word, phrase, or saying?
Slang is fine... but nothing along the lines of this:

please include furigana and explain the meaning or usage of the word/phrase, if you will be so kind.

Thanks!

Hooray for the internet! Helping college students slack off on projects since 1992~....

[Phoenix_stu]

First of all good luck on your project.

This is word that I use almost all of the time. It is a bit of ninhongo/english.
My own little concoction.

しょうがfuckin'ない best translated to Oh fuckin' well. Original word being "しょうがない"

Beleive me. I have been using this since day one of arrival here in Japan. Seeing that I am turned down at doing so many things here because of my tatts.
But is is my choice to be here, therefor, しょうがfuckin'ない.

[GomiGirl]

どろぼう猫 Dorobou neko - homewrecker, or girl that tries to steal her friend's boyfriend. It is really not a nice term to use.

This is from the inference that a cat goes into the neighbour's house to steal food.

[james]

[Samurai_Jerk]

[GomiGirl]

Another one I use a heap is なんとか、なんとか nantoka,nantoka. Just when I can't think of (or don't know) the word I want.

[American Oyaji]

I like むずかしい, muzukashii. Saying this means its difficult, but if I just say "muzukashii desu" and tilt my head, it means to say I can't do it without actually saying I can't (or wont) do it.

Very Japanese.

[IkemenTommy]

[Takechanpoo]

[Taro Toporific]

What's your favorite/ most useful/ most whatever Japanese word, phrase, or saying?

The NHK man was on the door intercom nagging me this evening for not paying for public TV, on a f*cking Sunday night after 7pm. I read him the crop report for wheat futures in Colorado for 5 minutes in English. After that, he sounded bit confused and stammering. So, then I said my most useful Japanese phrase: " Saaaa, kekkou desu. さぁー結構です (No thanks/Ain't buying today*)

In a more positive vein, I can go for weeks saying nothing more than, "So-ka" そうか (So yeah?) and "Daijobu des "大丈夫で (Yeah, it's OK/cool ).

Once on a bet, I went through a whole day at work at Hitachi using nothing but "un, un, un" うんうんうん older salaryman gunts. Nobody noticed I wasn't using words and everybody understood.

*Loose-as-a-goose translation

[Ke11iente]

[IkemenTommy]

[Charles]

[Ke11iente]

[Charles]

What the hell?!?!
Umm... while we're talking about favorite words and such, what would be a few choice words to call someone like that? Obaba? Doesn't seem strong enough.

I wouldn't go that far, she meant that in the kindest possible way, although she was obviously frustrated. She had never hosted a gaijin before, and she did go to some effort to find a bilingual friend who helped both of us judge how much communication was going on. That incident seemed to be a communications breakthrough, it was a lot easier to talk after that (and after I knocked off the profuse aizuchi, which I decided was distracting me). Obaba just wouldn't fit anyway, she was slightly younger than me and she was like a sister to me.

[Adhesive]

Hmm...there are a few words in Japanese that I find really useful, and even some that I wish had a better English equivilant.

べつに (Betsu ni), meaning "nothing in particular".

頑張って　(Ganbatte), meaning "hang in there", "good luck", etc. Although there are English variations, I wish we had one word like this to use in a multitude of situations, like ganbatte can be used.

関心ですね (Kanshin desu ne) or えらいですね (Erai desu ne), depending on the situation, loosely meaning "Oh, wow, I'm really impressed with whatever bullshit hobby/career/self-awareness you're pursuing now.

残念でした　(Zannen deshita), meaning "That's too bad/dissapointing, etc.

[Iraira]

[amdg]

[quote="Ke11iente"]


BTW, I posted this same question to Japanese peeps and the most interesting answer I've gotten so far is "ズ]

できちゃった結婚　(dekichatta kekkon) is another way of saying a shotgun wedding, maybe a little more polite (not sure).


やっぱり　(yappari) is a useful word - has various meanings, but can mean "I knew it!", "however" or "yep" (in the context of, "yep, you sure love the ladies don't you!")

For the most useful word, different people will have different opinions, but I might suggest the simple どうも。 So useful in so many contexts.

[kamome]

I don't have Japanese capability from my PC at work, so I'll have to stick to romaji.

One of my favorite words is "botakuri", which means "rip off" (botakuri sareru - passive tense; botakuri desu - noun form), as in "I'm getting ripped off by my landlord." or "The prices at this restaurant are a real rip off." Think of how many times a day in Japan you feel like you're getting ripped off - you can use this phrase each time.

Note that this is not a polite word and shouldn't be used in front of a superior.