カテゴリー: Japanese Pop Culture Words

雑魚

ZAKO

weakling; small fry; a nobody; (orig.) small mixed fish

顔文字

KAOMOJI

kaomoji; Japanese-style emoticon made from characters (e.g. (^_^), (>_<))

ガチ勢

GACHIZEI

the hardcore/serious crowd who go all-in on a game, hobby, or activity

地雷系

JIRAIKEI

landmine type — a dark-cute (yami-kawaii) fashion and personality subculture, also used for an emotionally volatile person

サボる

SABORU

to skip class or work, slack off, play hooky, or shirk a duty

グロ

GURO

grotesque / gory / gross

マジか

MAJIKA

for real? / no way / seriously? (a casual exclamation of surprise or disbelief)

ギャップ萌え

GYAPPUMOE

the rush of affection triggered when someone shows a trait that unexpectedly contrasts with their usual image

尊い

TOUTOI

precious / noble / sacred; (fandom slang) so wonderful it is emotionally overwhelming

箱推し

HAKOOSHI

supporting an entire idol group or cast as a unit rather than favoring one member

神推し

KAMIOSHI

one's single absolute favorite idol, character, or group member, ranked above every other oshi

ゆるキャラ

YURUKYARA

a loose/laid-back mascot character

ワロタ

WAROTA

internet slang for lol / that made me laugh / lmao

ワンチャン

WANCHAN

there's a chance / maybe / possibly (if things go well)

めんどい

MENDOI

a pain, a hassle, too much effort, bothersome (casual clip of mendokusai)

キモかわ

KIMOKAWA

gross-cute / ugly-cute

ファンサ

FANSA

fan service — the gestures an idol or performer makes directly to fans (eye contact, waving, pointing, hearts)

エグい

EGUI

intense, brutal, insane, sick (can be positive or negative); originally acrid/harsh in taste or gruesome

しんどい

SHINDOI

physically or emotionally exhausting, tough, draining, hard to bear

乙

OTSU

good work / thanks for the effort (internet slang)

推しメン

OSHIMEN

one's favorite member of an idol group (or by extension any group) — the member you support most

ナンパ

NANPA

approaching and hitting on a stranger in public to try to start a romantic or sexual connection

クソゲー

KUSOGE

gamer slang for a terrible or garbage video game — one so broken, unfair, or badly designed that it frustrates players (sometimes in a so-bad-it's-fun way)

クソ

KUSO

damn / shit; crappy- (intensifying prefix)

コミケ

KOMIKE

Comiket (Comic Market) — the world's largest self-published (dōjinshi) comics fair, held twice a year in Tokyo

ブックマーク

BUKKUMAAKU

bookmark (web browser feature)

からって

KARATTE

just because; even if; even though (dismissive/pushback nuance)

こいつら

KOITSURA

these guys; these people (informal and slightly rough plural pronoun)