discovery....
discovery: JAPANESE QUICKIE GLOSSARY
...discovery
byline:
Anubis C. Soundwave
JAPANESE
QUICKIE GLOSSARY
CH.
1
-chan:
an honorific, usually [read: only]used between intimate
friends, or for children. otherwise, it sounds to the Japanese ear
like “Hello, Seto-snooky-wookums-punkin-pie....”
at which point unless Kaiba really likes you, you will die.
case
in point: “...Katsu-chan....” Ishitani is clearly
referring to Jounouchi(first name Katsuya, but for odd reasons
everyone calls him by his family name), and trying to mock him,
though in a nice way. Note that Jou-jou is way out of earshot.
(read: not even in the scene.)
-kun:
another less common JPN honorific, used between good friends and as a
friendly way to address subordinates.
otouto:
little brother/younger brother. Think Younger Toguro.
“Nani!?
Uso da!”: “What!? You lie!”, “What!?
You’re lying!”, or other similar pejoratives.
furuyarou:
old bastard(as in, despicable person); furui, meaning “old”
and yarou, meaning a very nasty way of saying “jerk”.
Possibly in reference to a certain dead adoptive
father....
zakou:
“small fry”, “small fish”; one of Seto’s
insults for Jounouchi.
hentai:
if you’re on AFF, and don’t know what this means...be
grateful. Your soul is still pure. [but if you must know, it’s
JPN anime/manga porn. stay far, far away....]
Hai:
one of several words for “yes” or “right”.
imouto:
little sister/younger sister.
sensei:
not knowing what this word means after three different versions of
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have aired within the past ten
years--not to mention the movies--should be punishable by being
forced to beta a CYOA with block text and bad grammar. however, it
just means “teacher”.
anou:
“um....”, “uh....” and other such filler.
senpai:
a JPN honorific/word for superior or upperclassman.
daijobu
na: “You okay?”, “Are you alright?” and
other variants.
manga:
it’s just the JPN word for comic book.
wasabi:
a really spicy, bright green bean paste, hence Seto’s
qualifiers of “mild” and “flavorless”.
CH.
2
Aibou:
for the purposes of YGO: DM, “partner”.
fellatio:
the first non-JPN word; it’s a Latin(Italian?) word for...erm,
“flute-playing”.... use the context clues, people. [or:
it involves chara A sucking on chara B’s penis.]
motto:
“more”.
baita:
one of several JPN words for “bitch”, though Seto’s
using an affectionate tone. Otherwise, he’d get kneed in the
royal jewels.
‘kaasan:
aka “okaasan”; Mom, Mother, Mommy, and other
maternal derivatives.
Iie:
one way of saying “no.”
‘tousan:
aka “otousan”; Dad, Daddy, Father, and other
paternal variants.
oyaji:
literally “old man”; another, coarser way of saying Dad,
Father, etc. Kind of like “Pops”.
‘niisan:
aka “oniisan”; older brother/elder brother
(someone else’s)
sake:
rice wine.
haha:
not laughter, but in fact another way of saying “Mom”.
Ecchi:
from the “H” sound in hentai. Basically means “you
perv!”
CH.
3
Sugoi:
cool, amazing, great!
ojisan:
uncle; Kouma’s basically saying “So, Uncle
Yoshikatsu....” in a very affectionate and chirpy tone.
Kuso:
can mean “damn”, “shit”, “crap”--all
depending on tone.
onore:
means “jerk”.
chikushoume:
...Kouma hasn’t been spanked enough for using bad words. He’s
basically calling his uncle an SOB. (to be fair, Ishitani is forcing
the kid to drink a heavily-spiked milkshake....)
warugaki:
“evil, obnoxious little brat....”
gikei:
brother-in-law.
seme:
literally “attack”, “offense”; in Senzo’s
case, the aggressive, dominant partner.
-sama:
honorific reserved for people of higher rank/position.
nipponjin:
Japanese, Japanese person.
kouchou:
(school)principal, headmaster/mistress
omo:
essentially the same as kouchou. Ishitani likes shorter words.
yakuza:
oh, come on--you know what that means...! :) Japanese mafia.
bonkotsu:
ordinary, mediocre; another one of Seto’s epithets for Jouno.
between that, “small fry”, and the infamous “losing
dog”(OJV)/“puppy dog”(EDA) chatter, do you wonder
why “Joey” doesn’t like Seto that much?
ani:
another word for “older brother”, used when referring to
one’s own brother. think Older Toguro.
CH.
4
moshi-moshi:
“hello” on the telephone.
*
yes, I know ramen is a JPN word, their way of saying lo mein.
But we have ramen(instant) in the US, so I’m letting it slide.
besides, they spell it raamen. *
ninensei:
second-year student, sophomore in HS/college. In this story(and I
think YGO), Seto’s a year older than Yuugi and the gang, so in
Domino HS during YGO: DM--what Fujimiya’s reenacting--he’d
be a sophomore.
gimai:
(younger) sister-in-law. Since Zenime and Kazuhiko are the same age,
Kazuhiko used this word.
CH.
5
bakuhatsuteki
seieki: “exploding semen”. Yep, you heard
me--explosive semen. this was in Legend of the Overfiend. a
“classic” that thankfully I’ve only seen a clip of
during an HBO special.
Onegai:
usually means please.
geisha:
the pretty JPN women in red kimonos with the white clown face paint.
or, “Japanese singing and dancing girl”, among other
things. let’s just say the girl did a lot of dancing for
her clients, up until the wee hours of the morning....
Oi:
aka ooi; “hey!” A word desperately needed in that
situation. Too bad Seto’s...on autopilot.
ohayossu:
a familiar way of saying hello.
Ossu:
short for ohayossu.
‘niisama:
aka oniisama, a polite way of saying “big brother”.
(usually someone else’s, but Mokuba’s referring to Seto.
go fig.)
otoutogo:
(“your”) younger/kid brother.
-dai:
little brother/younger brother(own). attached to “Mokie’s”
name in this case.
Sanban:
third, number three. think of a certain plushie-crazy young operative
in the KND.
karupisu:
a JPN milk-based soda, or Calpis Water. also slang for male
ejaculate, which means that whenever I get the chance to visit Japan,
I won’t drink the Calpis Water....
otsuya:
around 10:00 PM, which should have triggered several
loud, blaring alarms in these guys’ heads....
tatsunootoshigo:
seahorse/sea horse, which also happens to be the translation of
Seto’s last name. Jou-jou’s having way too much fun
here....
Kutabare:
means that...Seto is PISSED OFF. I refuse to translate this one.
reimai:
(your) younger/little sister.
teme/temae:
means “you”, but it’s a very rude way of saying it.
Yoshi:
not the dinosaur on Nintendo, but a word meaning “good”
or “OK!”
reikei:
(your) older brother.
ontai:
boss, sir; a way to refer to one’s superiors.
gitei:
younger brother-in-law. Shizuru already has a kid brother. must be
hard to keep them straight....
gishi:
older sister-in-law. see note w/gimai, chapter 3.
anta:
a variation of anate, an affectionate way of saying “you”
between husband and wife(usually comes from the wife). analogous to
“dear” or “honey”.
CH.
6
Domo
arigatou: “thank you”, the polite form. Japanese, so
polite.... almost as bad as Southerners in the US.
Ja
ne: probably a contraction of jamatane, or “see you
later”.
yen:
JPN currency; current exchange rate of one yen is less than a
penny in US dollars.
jajauma:
literally, “restive horse”; in this case, yet another way
to say “bitch”. Another person on the dreaded shitlist
of...Seto Kaiba.
bakayarou:
“stupid” + “bastard”; means “dumbass”.
OTOKOBENJO/ONNABENJO:
(men/women) restroom.
enjokousai:
basically, teen whore. usually refers to a trend-conscious teenage
girl who dates older men for money/material possessions. also a
euphemism for...things that keep you awake at night if you’re
the JPN parent of a teenage girl.
yokodzuna:
highest-ranked sumo wrestler.
fujin:
Mrs.; IOW, Mrs. Aomori--Kazuhiko’s mom. [seto: revenge is a
dish best served with Ramune and my blue eyes....]
*
tournante is French; I don’t intend to translate it
here. give up. *
CH.
7
Ichinensei:
first-year student; freshman(HS/college). this brat just made himself
a bully target....
Ganbatte:
good luck, do well, do your best, go for it!
tomo:
short for tomodachi, which means “friend” or
“buddy”.
Aniki:
variant of ani, meaning (my) older brother.
ninja:
I will not translate this. You know what ninja are...! >D
-kei:
(own) older brother. Although Kuwa is Ishitani’s brother-in-law
in this piece, Ishitani uses the more familiar form.
keikan:
officer, as in police.
shochou:
chief of police.
koorime:
“ice maiden”, as seen on YYH.
kanchou:
literal meaning in this case, an enema/giving an enema; it’s a
weird, silly...thing...that JPN schoolchildren(boys, of course) do,
where they poke their index finger up someone’s butt. this is a
staple on Naruto, and Yusuke actually did this to
Kuwabara once on YYH.
-tachi:
“...and the others”. a plural suffix.
ojijiisama:
a polite way of saying “grandpa” or “grandfather”.
satsu:
the slang word for police, akin to “cop” or “cops”.
CH.
8
Fukei:
means “parents” or “older brothers”.
Shizuka’s using the latter.
bishounen:
handsome youth, cute boy/guy, pretty boy; i.e. - Kaiba Seto, Bakura
Ryou, Trowa Barton, Heero Yuy.... [quit drooling, fangirls. ;)]
Hime-ko:
hime means princess. ko means child in this usage, but
Kusanagi is using it as a term of endearment.