The Japanese Guide to American Otaku-speak

americosplaySo while there are great guides to Japanese otaku speak, there’s no guides for the Japanese readers to the stupid things American otaku have butchered out of their language. So I decided to attempt to create one! :lol: つまりこれは日本人の為にアメリカオタクの「言葉」ガイド。

  • Dress Up As – ドレス・アップ・アズ：　アニメや漫画Etc.コスプレすること
  • Bishie – ビシ：　美少年
  • Shounen Ai – ショウネン・アイ：　ボーイズラブってもの（皆は少年愛と思ってるｗ）
  • Fanart – ファンアート：　蔵版イラスト
  • Sempai – セムパイ：　先輩と同じです
  • Anime Con – アニメコン：　アニメと漫画イベント。コミケ見たいなもの。
  • lol – エル・オ・エル：　ｗｗｗｗｗと同じ（笑っているって意味）
  • Deviantart – ディヴィアントアート：　イラストコミュニティPIXIV見たいに。
  • Art thief – アートシーフ：　イラスト泥棒。人のイラストダウンロードと他のサイトへアップする犯人。
  • So KAWAII! – ソ・カワイイ！：　とっても可愛い！
  • Man Faye – マン・フェイ：　カウボイ・ビボップからフェイバレンタインをコスプレしたキモオタです。写真はこっちらです。
  • loli - ラリ：　若いと萌えなアニメキャラ
  • delicious flat chest – デリシアス・フラット・チェスト：　ぺたんこ
  • GAR – ガー：　とっても男らしいの人
  • FABULOUS! - ファビュロース！：　ゲイ
  • Nice Boat ending – ナイス・ボートエンディング：　アニメが終わると誰かのキャラが死ぬ

Now let’s say you are Japanese person who wants to make friends with an American otaku. (LOL well it could happen). Here are some great phrases to get a conversation going!

  • What is your favorite anime? – あなたの好きなアニメはなんですか？
  • What kind of Pocky do you like? – あなたの好きなポッキ味はどっち？
  • Who is your favorite bishie? -　あなたの好きなアニメ美少年は誰ですか？
  • Do you cosplay? What is your favorite costume? – コスプレしますか？　一番気に入っているコスは何？
  • Do you draw fanart? – 蔵版イラストを描きますか？
  • Can you send me some HCGs? - エロゲからイラスト私にくれませんか？

There are probably other terms I don’t know. If anyone has suggestions I’ll update this post. I guess not being heavily involved with anime otaku these days I’m like an old fart missing all those things “them youngin’s” do.  Oh well in my case I actually think that’s a good a thing. :lol:

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26 thoughts on “The Japanese Guide to American Otaku-speak”

  1. This post is just like a mirror to Bangin’s Japanese otaku term posts.

    Pretty interesting stuff. Maybe you should do this on a regular basis, like 1 or 2 new terms at a time.

  2. Porn is a universal language huh.

    Maybe some other general web speak can be helpful?
    I CAN HAS
    ROFL
    PWN
    ZOMG
    4chan, /b/tard etc
    QUALITY

  3. double> yea that’s why I linked to him :P I wouldn’t do this on a regular basis mainly because I don’t really know of any other stupid american otaku terms ^^;

    Omo> Sad part is I don’t quite know how to explain some of those terms, thanks for the suggestion though, if I can think of some way to translate it into Japanese I’ll definitely add them in

  4. >つまりこれは日本人の為にアメリカオタクの「言葉」ガイド。
    Excuse me, I am a Japanse man, let me say something.

    >Bishie – ビーシ：　美少年
    Oh, I thought it is ビシー.

    >Fanart – ファンアート：　蔵版イラスト
    I really don know where do you find the word “蔵版”？
    I think 同人 or 絵師 is so natural as Japanese.

    >Anime Con – アニメコン：　アニメと漫画イベント。コミケー見たいなもの。
    コミケ is enough. you don’t have to use 「－」.

    >lol – エル・オ・エル：　ｗｗｗｗｗと同じ（笑っているって意味）
    Oh, I thought it is ロル.

    >Deviantart – ディヴィアントアート：　イラストコミュニティPIXIV見たいに。
    Naruhodo.

    >Art thief – アートシーフ：　イラスト泥棒。人のイラストダウンロードと他のサイトへアップする犯人。
    Naruhodo.

    >loli – ラリ：　若いと萌えなアニメキャラ
    Oh, I thoght it is ロリ.

    >delicious flat chest – デリシアス・フラット・チェスト：　ぺたんこ
    貧乳ですね。わかります。

    >GAR – ガール：　とっても男らしいの人
    カタカナ日本語でガールは少女だから、ガーのほうがいいかも。

    >FABULOUS! – ファビュロース！：　ゲイ
    スザクですね。分かります。

  5. What, no trolling on that list? That’s a must! :p Well, I guess that’s not so much an otaku term as it is an internet term.

    Here are some great phrases to get a conversation going!

    Can you send me some HCGs?

    LOL

  6. This is hilarious!
    What kind of Pocky do you like? – あなたの好きなポッキ味はどっち？

    Guffaws.

  7. Oh my, I love your list! It’s amazing how fast people can make up new words that maybe only some years ago wouldn’t make any sense at all. What really amuses me is that some of the terms you’ve listed are also used by some (otaku) spanish speakers, even though they are in english.

  8. I always thought the “sempai” thing was due to the (under certain romanizations) ん character being accepted as either an “n” sound or a “m” sound.

    Though, obviously, how senpai’s actually pronounced is quite obvious….

    >>momoi
    >Oh, I thought it is ビシー.
    Really, I think people will say it either way. English is this hilarious language where people will say the same word 50 different ways, so phonetic transcriptions are always iffy.

    >Oh, I thoght it is ロリ.
    Same thing as above. Because honestly, I’ve seen people say it like “ラーリ” even.

    >Oh, I thought it is ロル.
    People will say it either way in my experience.

  10. “What is your favorite anime?”
    To which probably 80% or more will answer Naruto. xD;;

    Hm… other phrases… Damnit my brain’s pulling a blank. Must be effectively avoiding the retarded fans.

  13. Next time you’re at a con… remind yourself that maybe that there’s an orbital ion cannon aimed at it ready to obliterate masses of these people.

  14. Lurk a day in 4chan and you’ll have an even longer list. That said, delicious flat chest is by far my favorite phrase. Yum.

  16. ヘー、これが面白い。「Nice Boat ending」のその言葉はどこから出たと思ったら、説明してあげる。ある日、一人の娘が斧を使って、自分のお父さんが殺しました。その次の日には粗暴なアニメのSchool　Daysの最後のエピソードが放送するはずだが、前の事件が起こったのせいで、TV局が放送しないと決めた。その代わりに、素敵な景色と豪華船の番組が放送した。その豪華船から粗暴なエピソードを「Nice Boat」と呼ぶ例になった。

  17. Hinano:

    - “Bishie” should probably be ビシー like momoi suggested. 「ビシ」 would be just “bish”.
    - “Loli” should also be 「ロリ」 as it comes from “Lolita” 「ロリータ」:
    http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AD%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BF
    - ひでぽん’s also right in saying that Japanese people are aware of the term “fan art” and use it. Otherwise, “doujin” 「同人」 is pretty common. The word “doujinshi” 「同人誌」 stems from this after all.

    - “Sempai” 「先輩」 is an interesting one though. This mispronunciation by foreigners partly stems from the Japanese themselves, as this is an accepted romanization of the word. For whatever reason, the Japanese Ministry of Education decided that romaji should follow English language rules, meaning that the letter “n” cannot precede a “p” or a “b”. In such cases, it will always be a “m” (e.g. “jump”). This is why we have “sempai” instead of “senpai”. This is also why you’ll see signs in Japan for places like “Shinbashi” 「新橋」 written as “Shimbashi”. Another example is where “shimbun” is acceptable for “shinbun” 「新聞」.

  18. Hmm, I just realized that you were trying to write how foreigners pronounce “loli”. Anyway, I guess 「ロリ」 in your explanation is all that’s really needed.

  19. I always pronounce it as LOH-LI not LAH-LI, but then again I’m less ignorant than the majority of anime fans lol

    in regards to the N and M argument, I don’t care how it’s written, but when I hear someone say “SEMUPAI” it drives me bananas. I know it can be written as sempai in some stupid book but when you are typing in Japanese IME if you try to write sempai it goes all wacky on you: せｍぱい　←ほらね。

  20. Haha, those who pronounce it “semupai” probably have little or no understanding of Japanese, outside of the fact that everything has to be a syllable.

    I can understand your frustration though Hinano!

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