Japanese Slang #2

Time for more Japanese slang!

We’re gonna look at some casual ways of saying I and you. Next time we’ll look at some more contractions, those words for lazy people who don’t want to add the extra syllables Haha. But seriously, it’s nice to know some of this slang, even if you don’t use it yourself. There’s nothing worse than not understanding what a person is saying because it’s slightly different to what you learnt from a text book.

Take a mental note that a lot of this slang is Kansai-ben (関西弁), which is a mixture of the different dialects in the Kansai region (Such as Osaka-ben, Nara-ben, etc.). Obviously things change depending on where you go, so take that into account, but a lot of things are understood wherever you go.

BOKU (僕) – I (male)

 
ぼく is an informal way of saying ‘I‘. It’s used by men, although some women use it in a tomboyish way. It is used to express ‘I‘ in a masculine way. It’s not necessarily rude, but I would only use it with people you know or people of your own age bracket. Adding の after would make it ‘me’, and adding たち would be ‘us’.

ORE (俺) – I (male, strong)

 
おれ is a very manly way of saying I. It’s a rude way of saying it someone you respect, its got that boasting manly feeling to it, like な、俺って、強いよ！ – “Hey, I’m tough y’know!”. Definitely not used by girls, and only used by young guys with each other. Again, adding の after would make it ‘me’, and adding たち would be ‘us’.

ATASHI (私) – I (female)

 
By detatching the W from わたし, it makes the word for I lighter and more feminine. It’s used by girls generally to show femininity, but also in a sort of “Oh. My. God.” type manner when used with うわ、私[あたし]、その靴が大好きなぁ－！ – Oh my God! I, like, *love* those shoes!

ATAI (あたい) – I (female)

 
あたい is another contraction of the normal わたし, although this has other connotations to あたし. It is used in that sort of almost snobbish, rich girl kinda way. Daddy’s girl kinda thing. 「あたい高い車があるの。」「ね、あたいもだ。」 – ” *I* have an really expensive car”, “Well, so do I”

KIMI (君) – You

 
きみ is used for ‘you‘ in a casual, possibly diminishing way. Used for friends sometimes, but more for people lower in the social chain like subordinates or juniors. Used a lot by adults/young adults when calling a kid over. な、君！こちきて。 – Hey, kid! Come here! Use -たち for plural ‘you’, and -ら for the more impolite plural ‘you’.

Added by Mike / Gakuranman:

UCHI (うち) – I (female)

 
うち is a common term used for ‘I‘ by girls in the Kansai reason.