Today, I will introduce the Japanese slang meaning “very” and verbs that add “る ru” after katakana.

You may be careful to use slang in your country. Even in Japan, you should. Before introducing slang, I will tell you 2 points to use.

First is the person who you talk with.

Have you ever heard “まじ　やばい maji yabai?”

“まじ maji” means “とても: very.”

“やばい yabai” basically means “not good” or “dangerous.” But, recently, it has a lot of meanings such as “very good,” “too bad” or “very tasty.” We can use it in many ways and in many scenes.

When I asked about the meaning of “まじ　やばい maji yabai” to my 50 students who are exchange students or working adults learning Japanese, all of them knew the word. 41 students use the word in their workplaces or part time job places. Also, they told me that all of them use the word when they talk with their “friends” and “co-workers.” They do not use it with seniors or people out of their company and they do not do it during meetings.

Even Japanese learners are careful who they say “まじ　やばい maji yabai” to. We should not use it with your boss or people out of your company or in formal situations.

Second, Japanese slang often goes out of use quickly. The words Japanese people no longer use are called “死語 shigo: dead word.” If you use a word just because it is commonly used by everyone, people will often think it is “死語” or that no one uses it anymore, so you need to be careful.　For example, “ばえる baeru” means posting beautiful pictures on SNS. Japanese people used the word a few years ago but now we cannot hear it anymore. “萌え moe” is also one of 死語, means the feeling that people like cute things, animals or idols. Recently, we use “推し oshi” that means cheering our favorite person instead of 萌え.

– “The report was submitted until today. I forgot it. まじ やばい maji yabai.”

(I forgot to turn in the report. Oh dear.)

– “What? It tastes good. まじ やばい maji yabai.”

(This taste is very good.)

–“The movie I watched yesterday was まじ やばい maji yabai.”

(The movie I watched yesterday was very good. I was moved.)

– “I am shocked because my 推し oshi got married.”

(My favorite famous person got married and I am sad.)

–“Mr. A working in the same department, is my best 推し oshi within the company.”

(I think that Mr.A who works in the same department is the best person in our company.)

We have some ways to express “very” and “really.”

すごい sugoi, すごくsugoku, まじ maji, 超 cho, とっても tottemo, 激geki

When you say “Really? I can’t believe it.,”

まじか majika, まじで majide, うそ uso, うそでしょ usodesho

For example,

–“Mr.A is quitting his job this month.”

“まじか majika.” or “うそでしょ usodesho.”

Some words are added “る ru” to katakana words. It is a word derived from the meaning of a verb.

When you look something up on the internet, you can use these words.

ググる guguru　:　looking up on Google

ヤフる yafuru　:　looking up on Yahoo

ウィキる wikiru　:　looking up on Wikipedia

For example,

–“Umm, where is this town?”

“I don’t know. ググってみよう guguttemiyou: Let’s google.”

ミスる misuru　:　making mistakes

メモる memoru　:　taking a memo

コピる kopiru　:　copying, printing out

ダブる daburu　:　duplicating, repeating a grade

For example,

–“I printed it out.”

“Oh, I did the same a second ago.”

“Oh. ダブっちゃったね dabucchattane :We ended up making two copies of the same thing.”

ウケる ukeru: funny

–“The story is so ウケる ukeru: funny.”

ツボる tsuboru: cracking up. It is an abbreviation of “笑いのツボに入る warai no tsubo ni hairu: cracking up”

–“Why are you are ツボって tsubotte: cracking up and laughing? Is it funny?”

ハマる hamaru: being crazy about something

–“Now I am ハマって hamatte: crazy about this game. I play it all the time on my days off.”

イケる ikeru: doing something well, good, tasty

–“Sushi of this shop is イケる ikeru: tasty.”

–“He is イケてる iketeru: cool, beautiful.”

ディスる disuru: disrespect, denying or speaking ill of the other person

–“I’m a little depressed because my work has been ディスられて disurarete on the internet.”

ポシャる posharu: The plan or tasks has suffered a setback. It is canceled.

–“What did you do about the project?”

“It was ポシャった poshatta because of a budget problem.”

サボる saboru: skipping

–“He is not back to the company. It is already 2 p.m.”

“He may take a nap and サボってる sabotteru somewhere.”

ビビる bibiru: getting nervous, freaking out

–“I was ビビった bibitta because of the earthquake last night.”

スベる suberu: people do not laugh at your funny story

–“The comedian in not funny because he is always スベる suberu.”

凍る koru: The atmosphere becomes very bad.

–When we were very busy with closing accounts, a new employee said, “I’ll take paid holidays for a week from tomorrow,” and the atmosphere was 凍った kotta.

How are verb slangs?

When bubble milk tea became popular, we often heard the word “タピる tapiru: drinking bubble milk tea.” Nowadays, taking photos with instant cameras is popular, so we sometimes hear the word “チェキる chekiru: taking photos with it” using the name of the camera. Some verb slang words are created along with the trends.

This time, I chose words that Japanese people use in everyday conversation, regardless of trends.

Next, I would like to share net slangs or adjective slangs if I have a chance.

In TCJ, there is a nighttime class from 7 p.m. When we ask students the reason why they chose TCJ to learn Japanese, many of them answer that TCJ has classes that start at a convenient time. We have various classes from beginner level to advanced. We also have a JLPT class. Any classes are chosen to attend online or in-person. Learners who usually come to the classroom may also be able to attend online. When I ask them, “Why are you attending online today?”, I get a variety of answers, such as “I am in my office because of overtime,” “I am back in my country now” and “I’m traveling, but I want to attend the class.” Some of them even take the class from the train on their way home. On the other hand, some people who usually participate online from overseas come to the classroom and take the class when they come to Japan.

We would like you to continue studying Japanese, so we have various types of classes that students can choose the convenient way and the suitable level.

We are looking forward to seeing you at TCJ.