Japanese Internet Slang: Puns and Semantics

Youtube couple Rachael and Jun from their channel talk about Japanese internet and texting slang, and how the words came to be. All of them, play off of existing words and grammar to create puns and play on semantic features of the language. To be able to follow along easily, I put in timestamps at the beginning of each word the covered (there's five) to let you know where in the video you should be! haha.

(0:47) - 飯テロ (Meshitero): lit. "Food Terrorist".
Rough Definition: When you see something that you can't eat but you want right now (i.e. a picture, food in a store, or fake food).

This is using our creative language by making a new word to fill a lexical gap. There wasn't a word or phrase for something you can't eat but want right now, so the Japanese combined "meshi" and the shortened version of "terrorist" to create "Meshitero" or "Food Terrorist". It's a really silly term, but shows how you can create a term for anything if you're creative enough! Honestly I think it reminds of "hangry", they were even made in the same way: by mashing two exsisting words together.

(2:04) - ggrks (contraction of "ぐぐれ、かす" or "gugure, kasu")
Rough Translation: "Google it, you f***ing idiot"

As Rachael mentions, the Japanese language uses a syllabary, as in every consonant sound is paired with a vowel sound* such as は(ha), し(shi), and た (ta). Therefore, to abbreviate text, they just use the romaji consonant from each syllable to create an acronym of a sort. so gu-gu-re, ka-su becomes ggrks. This concept is similar to how we shorten things in English by taking the first letter of each content word, like FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) or NYPD (New York Police Department).

I personally vote that we in America need to adopt this term. Like, when someone asks you a really REALLY obvious question, just reply "ggrks" and walk away.

*except for ん

(3:22) - 乙 (Otsu)
Rough Translation: "Thank you for your hard work" or "Good job".

This abbreviation is all semantics. but to understand that, we have to start from the original word and work down to the abbreviation "Otsu". So the whole phrase is "お疲れ様でした" (Otsukaresamadeshita). Rachael gives a more exact definition, but it's essentially what you say at the end of the workday in Japan, like "good job guys!".

By decreasing the formality of the phrase, it makes the phrase shorter. So it can go from お疲れ様でした to お疲れ様 (otsukaresama) to お疲れ (otsukare) and now down to 乙 (otsu). Notice that the kanji for "otsu" (乙) isn't used in the original phrase. That's because the kanji being used for "otsu" in this case doesn't mean the same thing as the original phrase, it's just phonetically similar. In other words, お疲 and 乙 both have the sound "otsu", they two kanji are homonyms. 乙 is easier to type however as it just means "otsu" whereas お疲 means "otsuka". Lots of Japanese puns are made using kanji homonyms, and Jun mentions a few in the video.

(5:36) - クソゲー (kusogee)
Translation: "stupid game" or "f***ing game!"
Definition-ish: This is used when you rage quit a game or are extremely frustrated. "kuso" is the word for stupid/blasted/damn/sh*t/f*ck/etc.

 Like when you get called into work on your day off: "Damn! I have to work today!" or you left your wallet at home while shopping "Rats! I left it at home!" Yea, like that. Not a very nice term but it happens. And "gee" from "geemu", the Japanese word for "game". So put クソ and ゲー together, you get クソゲー, which means "sh*tty game" or "stupid game". Essentially it's the "rage quit" of the Japanese language, just said in a waaaaay more colorful manner if you will. Don't say this one around your mom, she might make you eat a bar of soap.

As someone mentioned in the comments for the video, you can describe video games many ways by putting various adjectives in front of "ゲー". Once again, showing how we can use creativity in language. Some examples are:

• 神ゲー (kamigee, lit. "godly game") means it's an amazing game.
• エロゲー (erogee) combines "erotic" and "game" (I think you get it).
• 音ゲー (otogee) combines "music" and "game" to name games in the rhythm game genre.

(8:12) - 日本語でおｋ(nihongo de o k)
Definition: "It's OK to say it in Japanese"

This is hands down my favorite term. so "日本語で" (nihongo de) means "in Japanese (language)".
the "おｋ" part is a phonetic play-on-words as お reads like saying the letter "O" and then adding "K" is just a Japanglish (or Englinese, if you prefer) way to say "OK". The verb "to say" (言う) has been dropped likey to make the phrase shorter and easier to say.

The phrase "日本語でおｋ" is actually quite condescending, but also kinda funny. It's like when someone mumbles or speaks overly sophisticated in English and we tell them "Speak English please" (nohongo de ok is even meant to sound just as condescending). Funny among friends, but otherwise completely rude.

In the video, Jun actually describes the origin of this phrase, which is arguably more entertaining than the phrase itself.

(9:38) 召しやがれ (meshi yagare)
Translation: "Eat your food RIGHT NOW"

Not common slang, but actually a mispronunciation on Rachael's part.
She meant: 召し上がれ (meshi agare) which means "Please enjoy this meal I made for you".
She said: 召しやがれ (meshi yagare) which means "Please enjoy your f***ing food" essentially.

The two tell the story much better, but essentially, Rachael used the command form of the verb, while saying it with the sincerity of meshi agare, making her sound really passive-aggressive and Jun falling on the floor laughing at her mistake. In her defense, having あ (a) and や (ya) at the beginning of a word can be tricky, as the "y" sound in "ya" becomes voiceless almost, sounding like あ.

I think this one hurts the most because I've experienced it before. For all the other Japanese speakers, it feels like when you accidentally say "いらっしゃいませ!' back to the shopkeeper. Ugh.

A lot of slang comes from our creative use of language and how we twist around semantics to make thinks funny (or punny if you will). I hope you enjoyed learning some of the ones from Japan!!

～Maryちゃん