Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [slang]

俗語. Words, expressions, etc. considered very informal, usually used mostly by in-groups, such as young people, and easily affected by trends and fashions.

Language features (words, expressions, grammatical forms, etc.) that are considered very informal, are usually used mostly by in-groups, such as young people, and are easily affected by trends and fashions.

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What does the internet slang "草生えた" mean?

I came across the term 草生えた on the internet. There wasn't much context, but it didn't seem to mean that grass was growing. Is this a slang term? What does it mean? I couldn't find it in any of my dictionaries.
user1478
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When Japanese say KY on the Internet, what does it mean exactly?

This comment can be seen very often on Japanese message boards.
Ken Li
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How to say f*** yeah in Japanese

I often get asked about swear words by Japanese people. As I sometimes watch Netflix, I can see how other translators approach these phrases and get helpful hints. Specifically, I'm curious about the phrase 'f*** yeah', expressing strong agreement…
Robert
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What is the meaning of all those "w"s in email and SNSs?

You see a lot of w and ww and even www in Twitter and casual chat. What does it mean? I've always thought it was わいわい but never found out. How is it pronounced? Here's an example from Twitter なんでじゃろうねwwとりあえず電車なうだから間に合いそう笑
nevan king
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What does っつの mean?

I recently saw 冗談だっつの. What does it っつの mean, or how does it modify the meaning of a sentence?
Louis Waweru
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Rules for slang of Japanese numbers

I often hear Japanese using a different method for saying a number like "248" as によんぱ — especially for highways and license plates. While this one is easy to understand, there are others that I don't quite understand. Could someone provide a list…
Mark Hosang
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What are slang terms for Japanese money?

This question about alternate terms for coins focused on the use of ワンコイン, but it got me thinking about slang terms for money in general. In all the years I've been in Japan, I don't think I've regularly heard people use slang terms for money they…
Questioner
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Where does なう on Twitter come from?

If you follow any Japanese speakers on Twitter, you'll almost certainly see them use なう at the end of a sentence, to say "I am in this place/doing this thing now". Where does this use come from? Who started it? Is it anything to do with the (e.g.…
nevan king
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Use of 厨 on the Internet

If you visit ニコニコ動画 or any Japanese message boards often you are bound to see comments like ニコ厨 or 東方厨. Does anyone have good idea how did this originate and what do they mean?
Ken Li
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Is アリ in そんなのアリかよ⁉︎ some type of slang?

This is a line from a sports manga (soccer), after a rather unusual shoot, but I can't seem to make sense of it: そんなのアリかよ!? I have no idea what the "ari" in here refers to? Is this some slang? Some short form of an idiom? It certainly doesn't seem…
Marcela alvarez centeno
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Is すごい slang or just informal?

Regarding すごい: What is the right way to spell it? Is it vulgar, or is it slang like the English "cool"?, or informal or colloquial? Is it archaic? If it is slang, does it have a non-slang meaning? If it would be considered too slangy or informal,…
hippietrail
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Is verb ending ない shortened to ん?

Off the top of my head I remember hearing these sentences, which I assume are just shortenings: すみません, 分からん 絶対許さん! Along with these two I've seen in sentence examples: もう我慢できん 彼にはその文の意味が理解できんかった - this one is a little funky, since there is no…
Daniel Safari
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Why do some Japanese men use お袋 to address their mothers?

I often hear Japanese males use the word お袋 in place of お母さん when annoyed or irritated. Is this word slang? How did this word come to mean 「お母さん」 and what are the circumstances it is used in? I am also interested in why the word 「袋」is chosen to…
Chris
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does 「なう」have effeminate connotations?

I often get text messages from people who use the twitter-derived slang 「なう」 to mean "now." As in 「電車なう」meaning "(I am on the) train now." However, these mainly come from women, and one gay dude. Is that just a coincidence, or does using this term…
Mason
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Does タメ語{ご} mean "casual speech"?

A debate came up on the use of タメ語{ご} in this question, and I thought it was worth its own analysis. The question is, does タメ語 simply mean "casual speech", or does it mean "speech between equals". Or something else. The difference has implications…
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