Are there any Japanese speakers around?

[Underseer]

One weird change I've noticed in modern Japanese TV compared to TV from, say, the 1970s. I hear the word "subarashii" far more often, including in places where I'm used to hearing "oishi" instead.

Has that word morphed into a slang term or something? Why am I hearing that specific word so much more often?

 

[Rhea]

I happen to have a Japanese exchange student sitting in my livingroom. She says it is not slang or anything, just has become more common. She’s only 17, though, so the 1970s are a mysterious past, anyway. LOL. But she says, no not slang.

 

[DolphinDynasty]

One weird change I've noticed in modern Japanese TV compared to TV from, say, the 1970s. I hear the word "subarashii" far more often, including in places where I'm used to hearing "oishi" instead.

Has that word morphed into a slang term or something? Why am I hearing that specific word so much more often?

Subarashii, from my study in the language, has been used for "wonderful" or "delicious" rather interchangeably. The curious change I've seen is how nowadays they drop pronouns and words for action verbs more often than to include them, which I think is slang as well as to save time in edit-work and subbing the translation into the show.

Japanese people also ten to go for a more "cute/casual" form of a word depending on the situation/person and how familiar/close to them they are/want to be.

But I've not studied it while in country or anything as I'm picking that up from the few speakers who were born/raised there are willing to relate.

 

[Underseer]

Sorry, I'm wrong. I meant "sugoi" not "subarashii." Or did I? Bah. It's not like I listen to Japanese TV that often.

I swear I don't remember hearing sugoi (or should I say "sugoooooiiiiiiii"?) so often when I lived there in the 1970s.

 

[DolphinDynasty]

Sorry, I'm wrong. I meant "sugoi" not "subarashii." Or did I? Bah. It's not like I listen to Japanese TV that often.

I swear I don't remember hearing sugoi (or should I say "sugoooooiiiiiiii"?) so often when I lived there in the 1970s.

Oh that one. I don't know why the TV shows and films seem to overplay that word, also the word 'teme' which can replace the pronoun "you" or else also mean "bastard", when in actual convos in real life these words are rarely ever used from what I understand from people who live there, even transplants from western cultures don't twnd t se it except once in a rare while.

There's also a variant "Sug-e", I hear a lot in TV and film from Japan, but if a native speaker heard me sue it their facial expression kinda slips, so I think they also hear it so much it loses it's meaning maybe?

I wonder if they treat it like a lot of us treat older slang, like worthy of rolling the eyes going "Daaad" or "moom" "that was last decade", or something.

They also almost never seem to mix in English/English words like "Sankyyu" or "Ok" like they seem to in shows,

People are weird.

 

[Rhea]

I asked my kids about these new words (sugoi, sug-e and teme) and they said, “Ooooooohhh! Yeah,” and proceded to explain that yes they were likely used more now than then, and by more young people, and that sugoi (cool) and sug-e (awesome) in particular are used to pull in the anime crowd and teme (vulgar (insulting) version of you) is specific to a particular anime character (for American anime watchers). So these would be used more to spark a connection to these young (and also non-native Japan) audiences through anime culture.

^^ those are my words. My daughter says, “no, mom, you need to start again. Here, let me do it.” Below are her words

In Japanese TV, anime in particular, the language develops almost separate of normal person to person conversations. They use different words, almost like a different dialect. So a slang usage but informing a TV dialect.

 

[DolphinDynasty]

I asked my kids about these new words (sugoi, sug-e and teme) and they said, “Ooooooohhh! Yeah,” and proceded to explain that yes they were likely used more now than then, and by more young people, and that sugoi (cool) and sug-e (awesome) in particular are used to pull in the anime crowd and teme (vulgar (insulting) version of you) is specific to a particular anime character (for American anime watchers). So these would be used more to spark a connection to these young (and also non-native Japan) audiences through anime culture.

^^ those are my words. My daughter says, “no, mom, you need to start again. Here, let me do it.” Below are her words

In Japanese TV, anime in particular, the language develops almost separate of normal person to person conversations. They use different words, almost like a different dialect. So a slang usage but informing a TV dialect.

^^^ Was searching for a way of explaining it and that's it. Sorta like how most people don't use dialects or phrasings in America that we find in American TV/movies, at least not to the extent it gets shown in film and TV. However, American TV/film directors/producers still (over)use slang phrases and words and accents in order to appeal to the target audience they think will like, or else they polled them in a test audience and found they preferred certain dialogue in that version, or maybe hated it. Game of Thrones was originally produced closer to the books, which also meant the dialogue was filled with a mixture of modern English renditions of Old and Middle English phrasings and labels. It tanked that way according to how the first Pilot episode was received. So the producers re-made the dialogue but kept a lot of the accents as they were favored, and now we have a years long run of a series that sounds nothing like the characters do in the bboks for the same reason shows and films from other areas will appeal as much as they can to a wider audience that they already know/feel are expecting particular things.

Similarly, people hear that someone watches anime, which itself is a term rarely used by Japanese people as they just call them cartoons, a word that has a different pronunciation, and they think tentacle monsters, robots/robot pandas/animals, big-titted ladies with crazy hair color/style where both those human parts defy gravity and other physics constantly, and occasionally, odd magic and talking animals.

Of course there are shows/films like this, yes. There are also films like Perfect Blue, Akira, 38mm Per Second (called that because it is the rate at which snow falls, an also according to the director how this metaphor can illustrate how quickly, but seemingly slowly, we can lose track of or gain connections in relationships). The last one is a beautiful story, done in a mesmerizing way to blend both computer generated graphics and hand drawn cells, similar in fashion to how they made Millenium Actress, another wonderful epic. But most people miss out on its existence, along with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and so so many others, because they go with what they think they'll expect when they go with only the obvious or popular from another culture.

Like I said, people are still weird.

 

[Rhea]

I agree with you - people are indeed weird about what motivates them or grabs them.

Glad we could help. Had to laugh at one point when our exchange student laughed and said, “How can I answer that, I wasn’t alive in 1970s, I was born in 2000! I don’t know how we talked then!”

Then she wanted to know all about the message board and what kinds of conversations we have here.

 

[DolphinDynasty]

I agree with you - people are indeed weird about what motivates them or grabs them.

Glad we could help. Had to laugh at one point when our exchange student laughed and said, “How can I answer that, I wasn’t alive in 1970s, I was born in 2000! I don’t know how we talked then!”

Then she wanted to know all about the message board and what kinds of conversations we have here.

Funny that we forget just because somebody is from somewhere and or some culture they must have all the answers we always found curious. I remember asking a distant family member why Netherlanders take shots at each other so often and why do they seem so stubborn and that lead to a delightfully long convo on the way they got to be the way they are, only for his wife to contradict pretty much everything he said cuz she grew up 10 miles south of his family, in the same country, but ended up characteristically so different from him.

Tell her it's a mad house, but one built by the most delightfully demented clown that never scares kids with weird make-up and odd expressions that make no sense.

 

[Rhea]

 

[Underseer]

I asked my kids about these new words (sugoi, sug-e and teme) and they said, “Ooooooohhh! Yeah,” and proceded to explain that yes they were likely used more now than then, and by more young people, and that sugoi (cool) and sug-e (awesome) in particular are used to pull in the anime crowd and teme (vulgar (insulting) version of you) is specific to a particular anime character (for American anime watchers). So these would be used more to spark a connection to these young (and also non-native Japan) audiences through anime culture.

^^ those are my words. My daughter says, “no, mom, you need to start again. Here, let me do it.” Below are her words

In Japanese TV, anime in particular, the language develops almost separate of normal person to person conversations. They use different words, almost like a different dialect. So a slang usage but informing a TV dialect.

For me it's when my Japanese mother watches TVJapan. A lot of Japanese TV involves people reacting to things, and that is what I was referring to. I rarely watch anime in Japanese with subtitles anymore. For some reason, I find it especially weird how "sugoi" seems to have replaced "oishii."

It's a good thing my poor mother has dementia. When her mind was whole, she spent a lot of time angrily complaining about how Japanese people used the Japanese language on Japanese TV. I can only imagine what she would have made of all this "sugoi" nonsense.

- - - Updated - - -

Somehow, this reminds me of "sumida" on Korean TV.

In the rare instances I've watched Korean TV somewhere, I've noticed that word used a lot.

But every time I ask a Korean-American about that word, there is a moment of silence, they look embarrassed, and then say "That's not proper Korean!"

 

[Underseer]

I agree with you - people are indeed weird about what motivates them or grabs them.

Glad we could help. Had to laugh at one point when our exchange student laughed and said, “How can I answer that, I wasn’t alive in 1970s, I was born in 2000! I don’t know how we talked then!”

Then she wanted to know all about the message board and what kinds of conversations we have here.

Funny that we forget just because somebody is from somewhere and or some culture they must have all the answers we always found curious. I remember asking a distant family member why Netherlanders take shots at each other so often and why do they seem so stubborn and that lead to a delightfully long convo on the way they got to be the way they are, only for his wife to contradict pretty much everything he said cuz she grew up 10 miles south of his family, in the same country, but ended up characteristically so different from him.

Tell her it's a mad house, but one built by the most delightfully demented clown that never scares kids with weird make-up and odd expressions that make no sense.

I'm both Swedish and Norwegian. Don't even get me started on the bizarre insults those two groups trade.

Swedes and Norwegians try to suck me in to those insult exchanges, but honestly I don't know enough about the stereotypes they have of each other to come up with credible insults.

I do know that both tend to be annoyed that Scandanavian-Americans spend a lot of time complaining about Scandinavian food.

 

[dendrast]

Japanese speakers? I have a pair of Sansui AA 4900 speakers in my office. Why?

 

[Underseer]

Japanese speakers? I have a pair of Sansui AA 4900 speakers in my office. Why?

Did you know that words can have more than one meaning? It's true! I swear I'm not making this up!

 

[DolphinDynasty]

I asked my kids about these new words (sugoi, sug-e and teme) and they said, “Ooooooohhh! Yeah,” and proceded to explain that yes they were likely used more now than then, and by more young people, and that sugoi (cool) and sug-e (awesome) in particular are used to pull in the anime crowd and teme (vulgar (insulting) version of you) is specific to a particular anime character (for American anime watchers). So these would be used more to spark a connection to these young (and also non-native Japan) audiences through anime culture.

^^ those are my words. My daughter says, “no, mom, you need to start again. Here, let me do it.” Below are her words

In Japanese TV, anime in particular, the language develops almost separate of normal person to person conversations. They use different words, almost like a different dialect. So a slang usage but informing a TV dialect.

For me it's when my Japanese mother watches TVJapan. A lot of Japanese TV involves people reacting to things, and that is what I was referring to. I rarely watch anime in Japanese with subtitles anymore. For some reason, I find it especially weird how "sugoi" seems to have replaced "oishii."

It's a good thing my poor mother has dementia. When her mind was whole, she spent a lot of time angrily complaining about how Japanese people used the Japanese language on Japanese TV. I can only imagine what she would have made of all this "sugoi" nonsense.

- - - Updated - - -

Somehow, this reminds me of "sumida" on Korean TV.

In the rare instances I've watched Korean TV somewhere, I've noticed that word used a lot.

But every time I ask a Korean-American about that word, there is a moment of silence, they look embarrassed, and then say "That's not proper Korean!"

See, when I asked a Korean American I know, who runs and owns a local laundromat, she said it was just like a cultural way for Koreans to mean "I see you", lie I know you, so I say this all the time at the end of sentences.

But then my old landlady, who also owned and operated a day spa and hair salon, told me its just something kids and young people say to each other to distinguish themselves from adults. But she wouldn't say what it actually stands for in English. Just like I know most older ladies will get called Ajuma, for Auntie but not my real Auntie, and a lot of them hate it unless they asked you to call them that. Same with Nona, for older sister, unless they ask you or accept it when asked, they don't like it. Some Korean Amercians will like it if you try and use the language bits you know, and some find it offensive if you don't speak as much of it most Koreans will.

And yet, in the Netherlands, if you try and Netherlands words on them, they looove it, usually, all across the age board. And sometimes they throw in a few other words until you get the pronunciation, and a lot of Netherland Americans will do the same. Except the Pennsylvnia German whom people and even Pennsy Germans will refer to as Dutch, who do not speak Netherlands, not even an old form of it. They also don't use a form of German that's known anymore in Germany, but like an older Dietz tongue from the 1500s-1600s. So, neither Germans nor Netherlanders nor English speaker can get it, just cuz they say they smashed all that together cuz it's far too old for anybody living now to know it. Of course, the Pennsy Germans will almost never talk with anyone not of their group for stupid religious/cultural reasons, but I did try to understand them when using their own language same as with Koreans, Japanese, and Netherlands born folk whenever I encountered them.

Funny how in trying to move outside your culture to include other cultures seems to backfire and get them pissed off.

Nobody said people were smart and/or inclusive and were being honest at the same time, though.