What Does this Mean?!
So, I’m fairly new to Japan, and slowly ( but surely ) trying to learn the language.
I have quite a few Japanese friends that try and teach me Japanese, and they do a fairly good job most of the time.
Anyway, many of the Japanese words that I have been learning have an English equivalent which makes it easy to understand how to use it.
However, there have been some words that I’ve learnt that are difficult to translate. Each of my friends seem to have a different English equivalent for these words or phrases and sometimes those definitions are quite different.
Example 1: Soro Soro
Let’s start with the phrase “Soro Soro”. As far as I know, this is said either before you leave or if you are planning to leave soon. The English equivalents that I can think of might be “ok, I have to go now”, or “I should get going” or “I have to go in a minute”.
Can somebody clear this up for me?
In English, you might say “I should be going soon” and then you would stay a little while longer before leaving.. If you say “Ok, I gotta go” then you would probably leave straight after that.
So, which one of these English phrases is closer in meaning to “Soro Soro”?
Example 2: Yabai
I know one definition of this, which is “It’s Risky”. However, my friends tell me that there are more meanings for this word, but they don’t know how to translate it into English.
I hear this word a lot on trains and just walking around Tokyo. A lot of Teenagers say it, so I guess it must be quite a multipurpose word.
It seems like a fairly trendy word to say, and it seems to stand alone.
One person will tell his friend something and the friend will sometimes say “Yabai!!”.
Could it mean…..”No Way” or “Oh My God!!”……however, I thought these phrases were covered by “Arie nai” ( I think I have the pronounciation wrong on that one )
Example 3: Yokatta
Ok. I’m completely stumped with this one. I hear it all the time, and I am guessing that this is another word with multiple meanings. However, I don’t know how to use it in my everyday Japanese. Is there a straight English interpretation of this, or is this one of those words that can’t quite fit into a neat and tidy English box.
It feels like “I Understand” or something like that…..but I am pretty much just guessing.
My friend’s have difficulty explaining this one too.
Example 4: Yappari
This one has me quite confused, but some people have told me that it kind fo means “after all” or something similar. Anyway, I invite people to give me some insight into this.
I’ve checked the dictionary on this word too, but it has given a few vague meanings and no examples.
Example 5: Maga Maga Shi ( The Challenge )
Nobody has even come close to giving me a definition for this. They just say “it’s difficult” and that’s that. Anyway, if somebody can point me in the right direction or give me a hint or something then that would be great. I first encountered this phrase in a manga comic…..if that’s any help.
Could this be like Sinister or Ominous?
Example 6: Yoroshiku ( Just one more )
ok, this one is not so hard, as I already use it sometimes, but I’ve heard it used by other people in a different context. If you guys could help me work out what the other meanings for this are, then I would really appreciate that.
Anyway, those are some of the words that I have come across that I really want to incorporate into my Japanese Vocabulary, but I am not quite sure how. I want to make sure that I have the correct meaning so that I don’t use in inappropriately.
(12 votes, average: 2.83 out of 5)
Loading ...August 23, 2006 - 5:06 pm
Tags: japanese, Others, Travel
Categories: Culture
Related Info
Related Travelogs
- No related posts
Trackback URL
Join japan-hopper.com as an author!!!
There are many places and things in Japan that have never been fully reported. Your articles help future visitors have more fun, so let's start to write about where we have been, what we have seen, eaten and discovered, our feelings along the way. - Register
Comments so far:
August 23, 2006 Comment by Simulacre
yokatta: past tense conjugation of yoi a.k.a ii. Present tense version means, “good”. Past tense version means, “it/that was good”. It’s used in many circumstances to indication things like pleasure, understanding, accomplishment or anything else positive.
if you had just figured out the meaning of the word yabai you might say, “yokatta”. if someone asks you how the boat trip was you might say, “yokatta”.
yabai: very dificult to translate, but it is generally used for situations in which a negative feeling pervades. it’s kind of like saiyaku and could mean, “awful”.
if a professor was particularly mean to your friend you might mutter, “yabai”. if your girl _nearly_ broke her leg skiing you might exlaim, “yabai!”
soro soro: i don’t hear it much, but your definition fits with the situations in which i’ve encountered it.
keep fighting the good fight
August 23, 2006 Comment by Simulacre
oh, maybe soro soro could be used in some of the same situations as tonikaku i.e. “let’s get on with it …”
August 28, 2006 Comment by mabewa
I would personally translate “soro soro” as something like “pretty soon,” or “just about to.” A common example of usage: “moo soro soro ikou ka?” which I would translate as “shall we get going pretty soon?”
It’s an adverb, but it’s often used alone as kind of a phrase. For example, if you are drinking with your friends and it’s getting late, you might say “moo soro soro…” which everybody would understand as “It’s just about time {that I should get going}.” In that situation, it’s not necessary to finish the sentence, since it’s obvious what you should be doing pretty soon.
As for “yappari,” explaining that would take a long time. A common English translation is “after all,” (as in “Well, looks like we missed the train after all), but it’s used in a lot of situations when English speakers would not use “after all.”
August 28, 2006 Comment by Ron Miller
That sign means “Check out these “guns” you girly man.
September 1, 2006 Comment by Peggy
What does this mean 
September 7, 2006 Comment by James
Yappari
I think the most common use of Yappari is more like “Yeah, right” “That doesn’t suprise me”.
A: I went to see the new movie on opening night, but when I got there it was sold out.
B: Yappari.
September 11, 2006 Comment by mabewa
I think that the problem with using “yappari” is not what it means, but how it is used. Literally, it means something like “after all,” “as expected,” “not surprisingly,” etc. The difference is that while English speakers would use these phrases when you actually expect the listener to agree that the result is expected, Japanese speakers often use “yappari” when the result actually seems unexpected, as well as in situations where the result is as expected.
I’ve heard people explain it as relating to the Japanese desire for harmony: yappari is used for the speaker to kind of solicit the listener to agree that the result is expected, even when the context seems to indicate that it wasn’t in fact expected. It kind of smoothens things out–”no matter how surprising or expected, this is, in fact, what has resulted, so this is the reality that we have to deal with.”
Anyway, keep listening to how people use it–it mystified me for a long time, but then I just found it naturally coming out of my mouth, and I stopped thinking of what it might mean in English–yappari, yappari just turned out to mean yappari.
September 22, 2006 Comment by Neil
Yappari …. the best translation I can think of would be “I thought as much” or perhaps “im not surprised” or perhaps “it was pretty likely that that would happen” and it is used when you hear something that is totally unsurprising. Dictionaries will translate it as “of course” but the more usual “mochiron” is better for a direct translation of this I think.
Neil
November 21, 2006 Comment by MELISSA
Que dos amosa lemta hola bunta vista’ puemas
January 21, 2007 Comment by Bill
“Yappari” is also used to mean somethiong like ‘just as I thought”. For example, “Yappari so datta”. (It happened, It is) just as I thought (it would, it would be).
January 26, 2007 Comment by Bill J
Some of the translations I have found for “Yabai”, besides “risky/dangerous”, are (1) “terrible/crap”, (2) “amazing/cool” & (3) “awful/terrific” (young people slang). Seems this word has a wide varity of uses.
February 6, 2007 Comment by Larisa
Here are what I found in Japanese-Russian, Russian-Japanese dictionaries (by Lavrentev and Neverov):
1. Soro soro - little by little, so-so (I was surprised by this translation). I wonder if it is possible to use soro soro for “O Genki deska” reply?
2. Soro-soro also describes motivation or obligation (must do), also “high time to do something”:
Soro soro hagimenakutewanaranai. It is (high) time to begin (start).
I hope it was helpful
March 6, 2007 Comment by masahiro,
yappari is not translate easy. you say it when something happened and you are not surprised.
a perfect example is if you put new milk in the fridge every day and it is already gone by night time, and you see that your brother drinks it all, then you say “yappari” it is like saying ” i knew it”
soro soro, i use when i need to go some times.
yabai, i think i have habit of using theis word. i use for everything i hear almost,,
March 14, 2007 Comment by Bill J
“Magamagashii” possibly comes from the word “Magai” which means Imitation,,
Sham, Phoney, Artificial, etc. So this expression might mean “It looks phoney”, “It appears a fraud”, etc. but I’m not exactly certain.
March 14, 2007 Comment by Bill J
The most common use of “yappari” that I’ve heard used is “Yappari sou da(tta)”. meaning “Just as I thought.”
March 14, 2007 Comment by Bill J
I forgot to mention that I think the “shii” at the end of “maga-maga” comes from the word “rashii” meaning “Looks like”, Appears”, etc.
March 15, 2007 Comment by Bill J
I guess I was a little off base with “maga-magashii”. Someone on another site told me that it did mean “ominous”, or “sinister” but the kanji was different than “magai”. However another meaning is “appearing to be true” which kind of matches my speculation of “imitation”, “counterfiet” or “fake”.
March 15, 2007 Comment by Bill J
I was also told by a native speaker that “maga-magashii” is kind of a sci-fi word that is seldom heard or used. That’s probably why it appeared in a (sci-fi)manga.
March 15, 2007 Comment by Bill J
Can someone please tell me how to say “I miss you” in Japanese?
April 24, 2007 Comment by Kit
For Bill above, it’s “aitai.” Japanese doesn’t really have the means to express that sentiment in and of itself and “aitai” (or, I want to see you/meet up with you–the -tai form of au) is the closest thing.
December 5, 2007 Comment by steph
yappari means “just as i thought”
December 5, 2007 Comment by steph
my host father told me that soro soro is used to soften an expression instead of being so abrupt. if you just said owarimasu it sounds abrupt but if you want to end something politely you can use soro soro owarimasu. he said its used alot when you want to end a conversation or something or dont have time to continue talking.
March 31, 2008 Comment by TG
Yatta~ can mean “I’m glad/relieved” “what a relief” “good” “well that’s taken care of” Along those lines
March 31, 2008 Comment by TG
oops….for the above comment i was wrong
the relieved part is “yokatta” I always get those two mixed up SORRYZ
April 25, 2008 Comment by Trina
my comment is that fuck this stupid azz website i cant find shit on here…….
June 26, 2008 Comment by shunichirou
yabai = its’bad!
about something that would happen and we worried
Share your thoughts
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed.