バラす
バラす
barasu
= to expose (a secret); to dismantle; to disassemble; to kill (slang)
Barasu (バラす) is one of those compactly versatile Japanese slang verbs — it covers exposing a secret, taking something apart, and in rough speech, eliminating someone. Context determines which meaning applies, making it a word that learners encounter in puzzling situations.
Barasu (バラす) has three distinct but related meanings: (1) to expose or reveal a secret — himitsu wo barasu (秘密をバラす, to spill the secret / blow someone’s cover); (2) to disassemble, take apart, or break something into pieces — kikai wo barasu (機械をバラす, to disassemble a machine), hako wo barasu (箱をバラす, to break down a box); (3) in rough underworld or fiction slang, to kill — aitsu wo barashite yaru (あいつをバラしてやる, ‘I’ll kill that guy’). The secret-revealing and disassembling meanings are commonly used in everyday informal speech; the killing meaning appears primarily in yakuza fiction, crime dramas, and manga. The word is written in katakana (バラす) to reflect its slangy, colloquial register.
The three meanings of barasu are distinguishable by context and object: paired with himitsu (secret) or a person’s embarrassing information, it means to reveal; paired with an object or machine, it means to disassemble; in crime fiction or threat contexts, it means to kill. The disassembly meaning sometimes overlaps with barabara ni suru (バラバラにする, to break into scattered pieces / scatter all over) — barabara is the onomatopoeia for things scattering, and barasu derives from this image of things falling apart or being separated.
Everyday use
それをバラしたら、二度と信用しないからな。
Sore wo barashitara, nido to shinyou shinai kara na.
If you spill that secret, I’ll never trust you again.
Casual / Social Media
サプライズのネタをバラしてしまった…最悪、みんなに謝りたい。
Sapuraizu no neta wo barashite shimatta… saiaku, minna ni ayamaritai.
I accidentally spilled the surprise details… I feel terrible, I want to apologize to everyone.
Formal / Cultural context
修理のため、技術者はエンジンを完全にバラして検査した。
Shuuri no tame, gijutsusha wa enjin wo kanzen ni barashite kensa shita.
For the repair, the technician completely disassembled the engine for inspection.
The secret-revealing sense of barasu occupies an interesting place in Japanese communication culture. Japan’s communication style is generally indirect and privacy-preserving — the idea of someone barashite your secret is particularly threatening because it violates the trust-based privacy norms of close relationships. The word carries genuine social weight in this sense: himitsu wo barasu is not merely gossip but a breach of trust (uragiri, 裏切り) with real social consequences.
The disassembly meaning reflects a broader Japanese vocabulary richness around taking things apart and putting them together. The concept of careful, systematic disassembly for maintenance or repair is embedded in Japanese craft and engineering culture — a watch-maker barashite a movement, a mechanic barashite an engine, a seamstress barashite a garment — all describe the same careful, methodical taking-apart that is the necessary prelude to understanding, fixing, and reassembling.
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