An interesting phenomenon of the modern Japanese language is the various crazy ways English is mixed in as slang or otherwise. Some English words are so common that practically every Japanese person will understand what they mean. For instance, despite being a fairly difficult word, probably just about everybody knows what charisma \uff08\u30ab\u30ea\u30b9\u30de\uff09 means. And the phrase \u300c\u30a2\u30d4\u30fc\u30eb\u3059\u308b\u300d has become so common that it is more accurate to say that it’s simply part of the Japanese vocabulary.<\/p>\n
However, by English, we’re not talking about real English but the special bastardized Japanese version. As a result, all of this knowledge is pretty much useless for real English (unfortunately for the Japanese who all seem keen on mastering English). However, it does make things much more interesting for us; the ones that are learning Japanese. \uff08\u3042\u308b\u610f\u5473\u3067\u306d\uff09<\/p>\n
Today, I want to talk about an interesting class of verbs that come directly from English. Katakana words are mostly nouns since verbs require endings that can be conjugated. However, the clever Japanese youth have figured a way around this by simply attaching a generic u-verb \u300c\u308b\u300d ending. This ending was selected undoubtably because it felt the most natural to the pioneers of modern Japanese.<\/p>\n
A very useful verb of this type is \u300c\u30b5\u30dc\u308b<\/a>\u300d, which originally comes from \u30b5\u30dc\u30bf\u30fc\u30b8\u30e5 (sabotage). You will almost certainly see this verb whenever somebody is slacking off, skipping class, and the like.<\/p>\n \u8a66\u9a13\u304c\u3042\u308b\u304b\u3089\u3001\u660e\u65e5\u306e\u6388\u696d\u306f\u30b5\u30dc\u3089\u306a\u3044<\/u>\u65b9\u304c\u3044\u3044\u3088\u3002 Other less common verbs of this type include \u300c\u30c0\u30d6\u308b\u300d (to coincide), \u300c\u30c8\u30e9\u30d6\u308b\u300d (to act up, cause trouble), \u300c\u30df\u30b9\u308b\u300d (to miss), and \u300c\u30cf\u30e2\u308b\u300d (to harmonize).<\/p>\n \u3054\u3081\u3093\u3001\u3061\u3087\u3063\u3068\u4e88\u5b9a\u304c\u30c0\u30d6\u3063\u3061\u3083\u3063\u305f<\/u>\u304b\u3089\u30c9\u30bf\u30ad\u30e3\u30f3\u3057\u3066\u3044\u3044\uff1f In a similar vein, although it’s not used very often, instead of saying \u300c\u30bf\u30af\u30b7\u30fc\u3092\u547c\u3076\u300d or \u300c\u30d0\u30b9\u306b\u4e57\u308b\u300d, you can also say \u300c\u30bf\u30af\u308b\u300d and \u300c\u30d0\u30b9\u308b\u300d .<\/p>\n \u7d42\u96fb\u3092\u9003\u3057\u305f\u304b\u3089\u3001\u4ed5\u65b9\u306a\u304f\u5bb6\u307e\u3067\u30bf\u30af\u3063\u305f<\/u>\u3002 Yet another great, recent example of this type of verb is \u300c\u30b0\u30b0\u308b<\/a>\u300d. With the popularity of google.com, you might be aware that “google” has become a new verb meaning “to search something with google”. Well, Japanese also has a similar verb: \u300c\u30b0\u30b0\u308b\u300d. (Google is \u300c\u30b0\u30fc\u30b0\u30eb\u300d in Japanese but \u300c\u30b0\u30fc\u30b0\u30eb\u300d is harder to say, so the verb became \u300c\u30b0\u30b0\u308b\u300d)<\/p>\n \u305d\u308c\u304f\u3089\u3044\u81ea\u5206\u3067\u30b0\u30b0\u308c<\/u>\u3002 I’m gonna stop here before mentioning the various types of restaurant verbs like \u300c\u30de\u30af\u308b\u300d (to go to McDonalds)\u3001and \u300c\u30d5\u30a1\u30df\u308b\u300d (to go to a family restaurant) because slang of this type are usually just a passing fad. (And probably won’t make sense to Japanese people over the age of 25)<\/p>\n \u203bThe key thing to remember when using these verbs is that you must conjugate them as u-verbs<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An interesting phenomenon of the modern Japanese language is the various crazy ways English is mixed in as slang or otherwise. Some English words are so common that practically every Japanese person will understand what they mean. For instance, despite … Continue reading
\n– Because there is a test, it’s better not to skip tomorrow’s class.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n– Sorry, my plans ended up doubling so is it OK if I cancel at the last minute?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n– I missed the last train so having no other choice, I took a taxi home.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n– That much, you can figure it out for youself. (Lit: That amount, search on google by yourself.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n