Common Expressions used in Anime

[Falcon_73]

Anime shows frequently seem to use shorter expressions that I've picked up on that I can't quite resolve and/or aren't in the dictionary. Since they are usually short it would be nice to know what exactly is being said.

A few of these sound like the following, and are probably off:

ã??ã‚“ã?ª - "no, no way" or something like that. It seems to be used in similar contexts as ã?¾ã?•ã?‹. It's mostly used by females from what I can tell.

何��� - "what did you say?" I hear this one a LOT

何ã?§ã‚‚ã?*よ - "it's nothing" This one seems to be a common half slang male version of 何ã?§ã‚‚ã?ªã?„よ.

There's another one I thought of earlier and now I can't remember it. I'm sure it will come to me.

Any explanation of the phrase or clarification on the actual spelling will be helpful.

I know there must be many more like this that I haven't been able to pick up on yet. What others should I be listening for?

Thank you,

[JohnThacker]

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Falcon_73 said:
Anime shows frequently seem to use shorter expressions that I've picked up on that I can't quite resolve and/or aren't in the dictionary. Since they are usually short it would be nice to know what exactly is being said.


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I'll assume you've studied Japanese a bit; if not, please feel free to say so, and I'll give more details where it helps.

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ã??ã‚“ã?ª - "no, no way" or something like that. It seems to be used in similar contexts as ã?¾ã?•ã?‹. It's mostly used by females from what I can tell.


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Yes, basically as you have it. My directionary says that it's used "aite no itta koto ni taisite," i.e., when opposing what the person you're talking to just said. I assume it's related to the other uses of "sonna" by means of being short for something like "sonna koto nai yo" or something like that. Of course, as you've noted, it can be used in cases where the utterer is more expressing a wish or hope that the other person is wrong.

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何��� - "what did you say?" I hear this one a LOT


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-tte (-te after -n, but here there should be a doubled consonant) is a more colloquial version of the quotative particle to. Among other uses, it's found at the end of sentences or phrases to indicate that the preceding is something that was said by someone. So in this case, it means, like you said, "What did you say?"

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何ã?§ã‚‚ã?*よ - "it's nothing" This one seems to be a common half slang male version of 何ã?§ã‚‚ã?ªã?„よ.


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Right. There's a general "tough guy"/male accent that changes -oi, -ai, and -ae to -ee/-ei. Hence omae -> omee, temae -> temee, nai -> nee, sugoi -> sugee, urusai -> urusee, etc.

[Falcon_73]

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JohnThacker said:
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何ã?§ã‚‚ã?*よ - "it's nothing" This one seems to be a common half slang male version of 何ã?§ã‚‚ã?ªã?„よ.


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Right. There's a general "tough guy"/male accent that changes -oi, -ai, and -ae to -ee/-ei. Hence omae -> omee, temae -> temee, nai -> nee, sugoi -> sugee, urusai -> urusee, etc.

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I suppose it's a cultural thing, but to me -nai sounds stronger than -nee/-nei. I know I've heard sugee a lot. Good info, thanks!

The other one I was thinking of is や��� It sometimes sounds like �や��� It seems to be something like, "yes!" or "I did it!" Is this derived from よ���?

や��り (I thought so) is another one I hear a lot, but that one is in the dictionary.

How does one say "It can't be helped." in Japanese? I see that in the subs a lot, but can't quite figure out the pronunciation of what's said.

Can you think of any more common ones, I may not be noticing yet?

Thanks again for your help.

[ayumu]

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JohnThacker said:
I assume it's related to the other uses of "sonna" by means of being short for something like "sonna koto nai yo" or something like that.

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I would say that ã??ã‚“ã?ªã?“ã?¨ã?ªã?„よ has a different meaning than just ã??ã‚“ã?‚ by itself. Usually when you say ã??ã‚“ã?ªã?“ã?¨ã?ªã?„よ, you're saying for sure that something isn't so. I think ã??ã‚“ã?ªã?“ã?¨è¨€ã‚?ã?ªã?„ã?§ã??れよ～ (don't say that!) or maybe ã??ã‚“ã?ªã?®ã?†ã??ã?§ã?—ょã?†ï¼Ÿ (that's not true, is it?) would be closer, as you're expressing your wish that the thing isn't true. But anyway, yes, the OP had the general meaning.

Related to the "ee" thing, recently one of my students berated me for saying や�� which she says is too rude for a girl to say. (She told me I should say ��� instead...this is a rather old-fashioned line of thought. It's quite common for girls say や�� now, although it's true that it's not what you'd call a polite word.) When I told a friend this story, she said, "Imagine if you'd said や�� instead!"

[JohnThacker]

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ayumu-chan said:

I would say that ã??ã‚“ã?ªã?“ã?¨ã?ªã?„よ has a different meaning than just ã??ã‚“ã?‚ by itself. Usually when you say ã??ã‚“ã?ªã?“ã?¨ã?ªã?„よ, you're saying for sure that something isn't so. I think ã??ã‚“ã?ªã?“ã?¨è¨€ã‚?ã?ªã?„ã?§ã??れよ～ (don't say that!) or maybe ã??ã‚“ã?ªã?®ã?†ã??ã?§ã?—ょã?†ï¼Ÿ (that's not true, is it?) would be closer, as you're expressing your wish that the thing isn't true. But anyway, yes, the OP had the general meaning.


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Yes, I think you're right about the meaning and nuance being different. I just wonder where the origin of the usage is; I assume it's related to something with the "standard" meaning of ã??ã‚“ã?ª, but I don't know.

[ayumu]

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Falcon_73 said:
The other one I was thinking of is や��� It sometimes sounds like �や��� It seems to be something like, "yes!" or "I did it!"

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It's the past tense of ã‚„ã‚‹, which means "to do." Literally it means, "I did it."

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How does one say "It can't be helped." in Japanese? I see that in the subs a lot, but can't quite figure out the pronunciation of what's said.

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�ょ�����, or ������ (more polite)

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Can you think of any more common ones, I may not be noticing yet?

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����� and �ん�る�　(But you probably already know those...? /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif )

[JohnThacker]

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Falcon_73 said:

The other one I was thinking of is や��� It sometimes sounds like �や��� It seems to be something like, "yes!" or "I did it!" Is this derived from よ���?

や��り (I thought so) is another one I hear a lot, but that one is in the dictionary.

How does one say "It can't be helped." in Japanese? I see that in the subs a lot, but can't quite figure out the pronunciation of what's said.

Can you think of any more common ones, I may not be noticing yet?

Thanks again for your help.

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Glad to help. や�� is the past tense of やる (rarely used kanji form: �る), which means basically the same thing as �る, "to do," (including "to do" as in "to have sexual intercourse with," just as in English), except that it's rougher, more colloquial, and doesn't append onto nouns to make verbs out of them. So it literally means, as you said, "I did it!"

"It can't be helped" can be said a variety of ways. �����, (仕方��) ������ (仕方���), �ょ����, or �よ���� (仕様���). You can also subsitute �り��ん for �� anywhere to be more polite. ��� is slightly more stiff/less colloquial than �よ�.

They all mean "it can't be helped," or "it's inevitable," or "nothing can be done about it." (Literally, it's something like "There's no way/method/recourse/remedy.")

Hope this helps!

[Falcon_73]

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ayumu-chan said:
����� and �ん�る�　(But you probably already know those...? /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif )

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"I won't lose!" and "Do your best!" - often said as �ん��� right?

I just picked up the former yesterday while watching Stellvia, assuming I got it right.

Thanks again for all your help. I guess I wasn't as far off base as I feard I would be.

And I think ������ is what I have been hearing, now that I can see it. Oh, I wish shows came with Japanese Subs and/or Closed Captioning sometimes. The best I've found is FF The Spirits Within, but it doesn't jive very well with what they are saying. Still, I was able to figure out 撃��� (撃�) thanks to that movie. That just sounds way better than "Fire!" huh?

One I picked up from seikai is ��ょ���. At first I thought it was Abh, nope. Assuming I know what I'm talking about it means "Systems Normal" or lit. "Without Abnormaility." Please correct me if I'm wrong /images/graemlins/happy.gif

[ayumu]

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Falcon_73 said:
"I won't lose!" and "Do your best!" - often said as �ん��� right?

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ã?Œã‚“ã?°ã?£ã?¦ is the imperative form. ã?Œã‚“ã?°ã‚‹ would be "I'll do my best." Yes on è²*ã?‘ã?ªã?„ (è²*ã?‘ã?ªã?„ã?§ is the imperative form).

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Oh, I wish shows came with Japanese Subs and/or Closed Captioning sometimes.

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Yes, that helps a lot. (Live action dramas often come with this and I love to watch that way. Great for studying.) There's always manga, though. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

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One I picked up from seikai is ��ょ���. At first I thought it was Abh, nope. Assuming I know what I'm talking about it means "Systems Normal" or lit. "Without Abnormaility." Please correct me if I'm wrong /images/graemlins/happy.gif

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Yup, that's right. Kanji is 異常��.

[wrex]

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Falcon_73 said:
Oh, I wish shows came with Japanese Subs and/or Closed Captioning sometimes. The best I've found is FF The Spirits Within, but it doesn't jive very well with what they are saying. Still, I was able to figure out 撃��� (撃�) thanks to that movie. That just sounds way better than "Fire!" huh?

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I believe the R1 Tenchi Muyo! in Love has Japanese subtitles. I wish more R2 anime DVDs had Japanese subtitles as well... Some R2 live action movies have both English and Japanese subtitles too, such as Azumi and Hero and maybe Onmyouji (I know it has English subtitles, but I don't remember if it had Japanese subtitles).

[Melazomah]

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wrex said:
I believe the R1 Tenchi Muyo! in Love has Japanese subtitles. I wish more R2 anime DVDs had Japanese subtitles as well... Some R2 live action movies have both English and Japanese subtitles too, such as Azumi and Hero and maybe Onmyouji (I know it has English subtitles, but I don't remember if it had Japanese subtitles).

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Which is why I love the R2 Saikano so. I can only afford one episode--the Vol. 1 SE Box--but damn it was fun to watch with Japanese subtitles and then with English subtitles. /images/graemlins/happy.gif

[Falcon_73]

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JohnThacker said:
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何��� - "what did you say?" I hear this one a LOT


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-tte (-te after -n, but here there should be a doubled consonant) is a more colloquial version of the quotative particle to. Among other uses, it's found at the end of sentences or phrases to indicate that the preceding is something that was said by someone. So in this case, it means, like you said, "What did you say?"


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So, 何����, right? I have seen the �� at the end of lines before, but could never figure out why. I hope this clears it up a bit for me for the next time I come across it.

Would a more formal version of this be as follows?:

何���言�������。

If so, I can see why they would frequently shorten it.

Another one I just thought of. When leaving the house for the day is it è¡Œã?£ã?¦ã?§ã??ã?¾ã?™? I can't remember what the person staying at home says to the departing person, however. Maybe I should watch that Chobits episode again.

[mrgazpacho]

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wrex said:
I wish more R2 anime DVDs had Japanese subtitles as well...


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The Ghibli discs do...

... actually I just wanted to acknowledge your new Yotsubato! avatar /images/graemlins/happy.gif

[wrex]

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mrgazpacho said:
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wrex said:
I wish more R2 anime DVDs had Japanese subtitles as well...


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The Ghibli discs do...

... actually I just wanted to acknowledge your new Yotsubato! avatar /images/graemlins/happy.gif

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Thanks. /images/graemlins/happy.gif Please vote for me in the avatar contest. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[wrex]

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Falcon_73 said:
Another one I just thought of. When leaving the house for the day is it è¡Œã?£ã?¦ã?§ã??ã?¾ã?™? I can't remember what the person staying at home says to the departing person, however. Maybe I should watch that Chobits episode again.

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The person in the house would say: 行��ら�ゃ�〜

[quenelf]

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Falcon_73 said:
the day is it è¡Œã?£ã?¦ã?§ã??ã?¾ã?™? I can't remember what the person

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No, just ã?„ã?£ã?¦ã??ã?¾ã?™ (è¡Œã?£ã?¦æ?¥ã?¾ã?™ if you want to use kanji, but it isn't always written out with both kanji). It uses the -te form variant that indicates sequencing (one thing after the other) - 'I'm going out and will come back (later)'.

�����り�� is a more polite version, same deal (行���り�� I presume).

���ら��ゃ� is the response.

Coming back, there's ã?Ÿã?*ã?„ã?¾ (usually translated 'I'm home!' but I think it only literally means 'right now') to which the response is ã?Šå¸°ã‚Šã?ªã?•ã?„ (ã?Šã?‹ã?ˆã‚Šã?ªã?•ã?„), the ã?ªã?•ã?„ part usually being omitted in anime (it's more polite); as far as I can see this literally means 'you've returned', but politely.

Fairly sure I got this much right (except where stated I was doubtful) but I'm not very good at the language, so consider this post disclaimed.

--quen

[JohnThacker]

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Falcon_73 said:

Would a more formal version of this be as follows?:

何���言�������。

If so, I can see why they would frequently shorten it.

Another one I just thought of. When leaving the house for the day is it è¡Œã?£ã?¦ã?§ã??ã?¾ã?™? I can't remember what the person staying at home says to the departing person, however. Maybe I should watch that Chobits episode again.

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The more formal version would either be 何ã?*ã?¨è¨€ã?£ã?¦ã?„ã?¾ã?—ã?Ÿã?‹ã€‚ or 何ã?*ã?¨è¨€ã?„ã?¾ã?—ã?Ÿã€‚ Note that another thing meaning the same thing is 何ã?*ã?¨ï¼Ÿ, which you also may have heard some.

è¡Œã?£ã?¦ã??ã?¾ã?™ã€‚ Literally "I'll go and come (back)," or "I'll come (back) having gone." The ã??ã?¾ã?™ comes from æ?¥ã?¾ã?™. Also note that in English when we want to describe errands where we go, do something, and come back, we usually say "go and X," like "go and buy something." In Japanese, they tend to say "X and come," like è²·ã?£ã?¦ã??ã?¾ã?™. ("I'll buy it and come (back)," or "I'll come (back) having bought it.")

The person staying at home says 行���ら��ゃ�, which is basically the same thing. �ら��ゃ� is the imperative version of the honorific verb �ら��ゃる, which means "go/come/exist." So you're literally replying, "Go and come (back)!" Also note that in common spoken pronunciation, the initial � of �����る�and �ら��ゃ� is dropped. Consider it like a contraction.

[JohnThacker]

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ayumu-chan said:
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Falcon_73 said:
"I won't lose!" and "Do your best!" - often said as �ん��� right?

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ã?Œã‚“ã?°ã?£ã?¦ is the imperative form. ã?Œã‚“ã?°ã‚‹ would be "I'll do my best." Yes on è²*ã?‘ã?ªã?„ (è²*ã?‘ã?ªã?„ã?§ is the imperative form).


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It's used as a sort of imperative, although grammatically it's not the true imperative. The true imperatives would be ã?Œã‚“ã?°ã‚Œ (é*‘張れ) and è²*ã?‘ã‚‹ã?ª, although those are pretty rude. The ーã?¦ forms operate grammatically like an infinitive or gerund form. Saying them just by themselves is basically understood as saying the first half of ーã?¦ã??ã?*ã?•ã?„ or ーã?¦ã??ã‚Œ, or other request forms. (Well, that's its origin, though the practice has basically acquired independent meaning.) Not nearly as polite as ーã?¦ã??ã?*ã?•ã?„ but more polite sounding than ーã?¦ã??れ。 It's a fairly standard practice in Japanese to drop things which are well-understood, especially in speech. It's similar to how ã?©ã?†ã‚‚ hardly means "Thank you" in a literal sense, and its origin is presumably from a shortening of ã?©ã?†ã‚‚ã?‚ã‚Šã?Œã?¨ã?† and ã?©ã?†ã‚‚ã?‚ã‚Šã?Œã?¨ã?†ã?”ã?–ã?„ã?¾ã?™ã€‚

TMI, perhaps. But at some point the original poster may want to understand the true imperative.

[JohnThacker]

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quen said:

Coming back, there's ã?Ÿã?*ã?„ã?¾ (usually translated 'I'm home!' but I think it only literally means 'right now') to which the response is ã?Šå¸°ã‚Šã?ªã?•ã?„ (ã?Šã?‹ã?ˆã‚Šã?ªã?•ã?„), the ã?ªã?•ã?„ part usually being omitted in anime (it's more polite); as far as I can see this literally means 'you've returned', but politely.


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All quite right. You will occasionally hear a very polite person in anime use a "complete sentence" with ã?Ÿã?*ã?„ã?¾, like ã?Ÿã?*ã?„ã?¾å¸°ã‚Šã?¾ã?—ã?Ÿã€‚ (I came back right now.) It's possible that a super polite person like Tohru in Fruit Basket will use a crazy polite ã?Ÿã?*ã?„ã?¾ã?Šå¸°ã‚Šã?—ã?¾ã?—ã?Ÿã€‚

Oh, and for leaving you'll also sometimes hear the less polite è¡Œã?£ã?¦ã??ã‚‹.

[ayumu]

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JohnThacker said:
The more formal version would either be 何ã?*ã?¨è¨€ã?£ã?¦ã?„ã?¾ã?—ã?Ÿã?‹ã€‚or 何ã?*ã?¨è¨€ã?„ã?¾ã?—ã?Ÿã€‚

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I think it should be 何�言����� (without "da") or 何����ゃ�����　(if you really want to be formal).

[BonifaceVIII]

...where the heck does the phrase "You're a hundred years too early to XXX" come from in a cultural context?

[JohnThacker]

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ayumu-chan said:
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JohnThacker said:
The more formal version would either be 何ã?*ã?¨è¨€ã?£ã?¦ã?„ã?¾ã?—ã?Ÿã?‹ã€‚or 何ã?*ã?¨è¨€ã?„ã?¾ã?—ã?Ÿã€‚

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I think it should be 何�言����� (without "da") or 何����ゃ�����　(if you really want to be formal).

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Yes, I agree, duh. What I said would be for "What did you say it is?" as opposed to "What did you say?" Thanks.

[ayumu]

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BonifaceVIII said:
...where the heck does the phrase "You're a hundred years too early to XXX" come from in a cultural context?

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It's just an expression, along the lines of "If you think you can XXX, you have another thing coming." Maybe it comes from long years of training in martial arts? "You'll need another 100 years of training before you can beat me with your Pate Knife of Death Attack!"

[Falcon_73]

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JohnThacker said:
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ayumu-chan said:
ã?Œã‚“ã?°ã?£ã?¦ is the imperative form. ã?Œã‚“ã?°ã‚‹ would be "I'll do my best." Yes on è²*ã?‘ã?ªã?„ (è²*ã?‘ã?ªã?„ã?§ is the imperative form).


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It's used as a sort of imperative, although grammatically it's not the true imperative. The true imperatives would be ã?Œã‚“ã?°ã‚Œ (é*‘張れ) and è²*ã?‘ã‚‹ã?ª, although those are pretty rude. The ーã?¦ forms operate grammatically like an infinitive or gerund form. Saying them just by themselves is basically understood as saying the first half of ーã?¦ã??ã?*ã?•ã?„ or ーã?¦ã??ã‚Œ, or other request forms. (Well, that's its origin, though the practice has basically acquired independent meaning.) Not nearly as polite as ーã?¦ã??ã?*ã?•ã?„ but more polite sounding than ーã?¦ã??れ。 It's a fairly standard practice in Japanese to drop things which are well-understood, especially in speech. It's similar to how ã?©ã?†ã‚‚ hardly means "Thank you" in a literal sense, and its origin is presumably from a shortening of ã?©ã?†ã‚‚ã?‚ã‚Šã?Œã?¨ã?† and ã?©ã?†ã‚‚ã?‚ã‚Šã?Œã?¨ã?†ã?”ã?–ã?„ã?¾ã?™ã€‚

TMI, perhaps. But at some point the original poster may want to understand the true imperative.

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If I understand it right, in other words, when one tells someone 「ã?Œã‚“ã?°ã?£ã?¦ã€? it really implies 「ã?Œã‚“ã?°ã?£ã?¦ã??ã?*ã?•ã?„ã€?, right? Or "please do your best."

An interesting side note is that in my JA2 class we were taught that it meant "Good luck." I suppose that is a fair translation to English, but as a cultural thing, perhaps hard work is more important than getting lucky and getting a good result. Do they ever say a more direct equivalent to "Good luck"?

This is the level of info I was looking for and it is most appreciated.

[JohnThacker]

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Falcon_73 said:

If I understand it right, in other words, when one tells someone 「ã?Œã‚“ã?°ã?£ã?¦ã€? it really implies 「ã?Œã‚“ã?°ã?£ã?¦ã??ã?*ã?•ã?„ã€?, right? Or "please do your best."


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Yes, that's what it really implies. OTOH, asking someone to please do something is sometimes merely the only polite acceptable way to order them to do it, right? Works that way in English too. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

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An interesting side note is that in my JA2 class we were taught that it meant "Good luck." I suppose that is a fair translation to English, but as a cultural thing, perhaps hard work is more important than getting lucky and getting a good result. Do they ever say a more direct equivalent to "Good luck"?


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According to my dictionary and several online sources, the most common phrase literally equivalent to "Good luck!"/"I wish you luck!" is "幸�を祈る" or "幸�を祈り��" (kouun wo inoru/inorimasu), which literally translated to "I wish/pray for good luck!"

A couple other similar phrases include �機嫌よ� (gokigen you), which more literally wishes that the other person have good health/humor/mood, and variations using �闘 (kentou), which literally, similarly to ganbaru, refers to putting up a good fight/good effort/strenuous effort. As you can see, they aren't quite literally the same. (Note that English usage of "Good luck!" does occur in situations where it is effort, not luck, that determines things, too.)

[Helschadenfreude]

Gahhh! I see nothing but ??? in place of the japanese figures.. anyone want to tell me how to fix it? I can't find anything on the firefox site....

And these short expressions, do japanese people actually use them in daily life?

[wrex]

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HelSchadenfreude said:
Gahhh! I see nothing but ??? in place of the japanese figures.. anyone want to tell me how to fix it? I can't find anything on the firefox site....

And these short expressions, do japanese people actually use them in daily life?

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I assume you have a Windows machine... try this page to start: Windows IME (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/recommended/ime/default.mspx). You may have this, and just have to activate the language option. I can't give you any more details, as I have a Mac. I'm sure a Windows user will be able to give better directions.

If you have a Mac, just go to System Preferences / International / and click on whatever languages you want to use.

As for the short expressions, many of them are used in every day life, such as "ganbatte," "ittekimasu," "tadaima," etc.

[Falcon_73]

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HelSchadenfreude said:
Gahhh! I see nothing but ??? in place of the japanese figures.. anyone want to tell me how to fix it? I can't find anything on the firefox site....

And these short expressions, do japanese people actually use them in daily life?

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I frequently had to change the encoding manually in IE, though not for AoD. Try this first:

IE: View > Encoding > More > Japanese (Shift-JIS or Auto Select)

FF: View > Character Encoding > More Encodings > East Asian > Japanese Shift_JIS

If that doesn't do it, PM me and I'll help you out. What OS are you running? XP made it really easy, but I think the ones before Win 2000 required a download.