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Japanese · Real Japanese · B2 to C1

Slang and casual Japanese

Short answer: spoken Japanese among friends is full of slang and contractions that textbooks skip. やばい can mean both “terrible” and “amazing”, マジ means “seriously?”, and めっちゃ (from Kansai) means “really, so”. Verbs shrink too: 食べている becomes 食べてる, 食べてしまう becomes 食べちゃう. Use slang only with friends your age; with anyone else, it can sound rude or childish.

Slang changes fast. The words here have been in steady use for years; very recent coinages date quickly.

Everyday slang

Heard daily among people under about forty.

Contractions

Not slang exactly, but casual speech compresses common patterns.

Casual	Meaning	Full form
tabeteru	eating	食べている
tabechatta	ate it (oops / all of it)	食べてしまった
ikanakya	gotta go	行かなければ
ii jan	it’s good, isn’t it	いいじゃないか
sō nan da	oh, is that so	そうなのだ
suimasen	sorry, excuse me	すみません
ssu	casual polite です (young men)	です

Online and fan words

Internet culture adds its own vocabulary.

推し

草

エモい

神

Reaction words

One-word reactions heard among friends.

Youth abbreviations

Young people shorten phrases into new words.

Word	Meaning	From
akeome	Happy New Year	あけましておめでとう
ryo	OK, got it	了解
guguru	google it	Google + る
donmai	never mind	don’t mind
kēwai	can’t read the room	空気読めない

Check yourself

Try each one, then open the answer to check and hear it.

seriously? (casual)
Show answer
maji de?
That’s amazing! / That’s bad!
Show answer
yabai!Context decides.
exactly, right?
Show answer
sore na
Gotta go! (casual)
Show answer
ikanakya!
Happy New Year (casual)
Show answer
akeome

A casual conversation

Two friends after a concert.

A

ライブraibuthe concertマジmajiseriouslyやばかったyabakattawas amazing

Raibu, maji yabakatta! · “The concert was seriously amazing!”やばい in its positive sense, past tense.

B

それなsore naright?!めっちゃmetchaso感動したかんどうしたkandō shitawas moved

Sore na! Metcha kandō shita. · “I know, right? I was so moved.”それな: “exactly” among friends.

A

推しおしoshimy faveがga(subject)神かみkamigod-tierすぎてsugitetoo much and

Oshi ga kami sugite… · “My fave was just too perfect…”すぎる: too much.

B

ウケるukeruhilarious

Ukeru. · “Ha, love it.”Laughing at the friend’s enthusiasm.

Related guides

Next guidePolite and casual speechWhen casual speech is acceptable.Next guideDialectsWhere めっちゃ comes from.Next guideThe plain formThe base of casual speech.Next guideOnomatopoeiaSound words common in casual talk.