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slang

Keeping up with the kids: Japanese high schoolers’ most popular slang of Spring 2022

Would you be surprised if most of these trendy words came from social media?

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Nominations revealed for Japan’s 2021 New Words and Buzzwords Awards

Who knew that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would also spawn so many neologisms?

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Spice up boring Japanese classroom vocab with the cooler words in this cute video【Video】

Your favorite textbook could never.

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Fashion magazine Egg’s 2020 Japanese Buzzword Awards are here to bring out your inner teen

The number one pick is derived from the lyrics of a song that’s sung in neither Japanese nor English. 

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Cup Noodle celebrates selling over 100 billion units with special “Japanese slang” packaging

Test your knowledge of Japanese slang from the ’70s onwards with these limited-edition cup noodles!

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Japanese government says Internet slang is too hard to understand, issues guidelines for netspeak

The Agency for Cultural Affairs’ National Language Subcommittee of the Cultural Deliberation Council asks people to be easier to understand online.

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Translation debate: how do you say “oh my God!” in Japanese? Netizens have many different answers

Oh my god there’s a lot of ways to say “oh my God.”

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W.T.F. Japan: Top 5 confusing Japanese Internet slang words 【Weird Top Five】

Five words just as hard to figure out as kanji.

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Lingo mambo! Spanish YouTuber teaches us 14 Taiwanese pet phrases【Video】

One of the best things about living overseas is the opportunity to learn the local lingo. By learning to communicate with the locals, it’s easier to get by day-to-day, and you’ll be able to unravel much more about the country’s culture. A Spanish YouTuber living in Taiwan shared a list of must-know pet phrases that he picked up by observing the locals. If you’re learning the Chinese language, starting a new phase in life in Taiwan, or even just imagining taking a trip to the lovely country, hit the “read more” button!

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Language of the otaku has infiltrated our Internet forums

I’m sure that many of our readers are acquainted with the Japanese word otaku and its assimilation into English. For those that aren’t, it is a special label given to people who are especially obsessed with what might be considered nerdy hobbies, particularly those related to Japanese anime and manga. In Japanese, it can refer to any person with an obsession, whether it be half-naked figurines or interior design, but it almost always carries the negative connotation of being obsessed to the point of anti-social behavior. In the Western world, however, being an otaku is a badge of honor for many. People who like Japanese manga, anime, and games will often self-identify as otaku and join together with others of like interests over the Internet and other social outlets.

For better or worse, this circle of online anime fanatics has adapted a small vocabulary of Japanese words, creating a sub-set of Internet slang that bridges the language gap between these two similar cultures. Japanese pop culture enthusiasts worldwide cling to words like baka, moe, hentai, and more. But is this particular aspect of otaku culture a healthy thing to have spread? For example, there’s also the potentially disillusioned concept of “mai waifu.”

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