Have you ever caught yourself boasting that you are fluent in a language and then suddenly feeling ashamed when your friends ask you to help them translate what their foreign exchange partner had texted them online? \u2013 You are not the only one.<\/p>\n
Among all the possible grammar, expressions and vocabulary, internet slang is often the most difficult to understand for non-native speakers as it develops and changes incredibly fast. To some it may seem as though there are new words and expressions every day. Japanese is no exception to that.<\/p>\n
Like in many European languages, abbreviations are often used on chatrooms, blogs etc. These abbreviations may be short for English words as well as Japanese ones. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n
\u2192\u30b3\u30d4\u30da \u2013 “kopipe” \u2192 copy and paste
\u2192GJ \u2192 Good Job
\u2192\u3046\uff50 \u2013 uppu \u2192 upload
\u2192\u304a\uff4b \u2192 OK
\u2192wwww \u2013 equivalent to LOL<\/p>\n
Inventing new words on the internet is also just as popular among Japanese people as it is nearly everywhere else. Just have a look at the following examples:<\/p>\n
\u2192\u30b0\u30b0\u308b \u2013 “guguru” \u2192 to research something on Google
\u2192\u3086\u3046\u3064\u3079 \u2013 “yuutsube” \u2192 Youtube
\u2192\u30ab\u30ef\u30e6\u30b9 \u2013 “kawayusu” \u2192 (derived from kawaii) to be cute<\/p>\n
However, there is one aspect about Japanese internet slang that will never appear in European languages: Using different kanji to abbreviate the writing progress. This part might be the most troublesome for foreigners since we have a tendency of trying to make out the meaning first before thinking of the bigger picture. Yet, in order to understand these slang words, knowing the reading comes in handy. Would you recognize the following expressions?<\/p>\n
\u2192\u4eca\u5317 (now north???) \u2013 “ima kita” \u2192 \u4eca\u6765\u305f\u3002 (I just got here.)
\u2192\u88cf\u5c71\uff23 (backside mountain C???) \u2013 “urayamashii” \u2192 \u7fa8\u307e\u3057\u3044 (to envy)<\/p>\n
Of course, there is a lot more to learn about internet slang words in Japanese as e.g. the kaomoji that you might have read about in one of our previous entries. <\/p>\n
If you really want to master your Japanese friends\u2019 online messages, tweets etc. the best way to learn all of it is to ask either them or another native speaker. (Though even Japanese people might not understand all of the expressions used online.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
| Have you ever caught yourself boasting that you are fluent in a language and then suddenly feeling ashamed when your friends ask you to help them translate what their foreign exchange partner had texted them online? \u2013 You are not the only one. Among all the possible grammar, expressions and vocabulary, internet slang is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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