Japan微妙 (bimyō)
adjective · Colloquial · bee-MYOH
Meh; not great; iffy. The polite way to say something is bad without saying it is bad, and understood as such by everyone.
+1 more sense
Japan
Japanese Slang for Filler Words
14 Japanese slang terms for filler words, each with its meaning, how it is pronounced and an example of it in use.
The small words that hold speech together: hedges, tags, intensifiers and pause-fillers. Almost invisible to native speakers and almost impossible for learners.
ちょっと (chotto)
adverb, interjection · Colloquial · CHOT-toh
A little; a bit. The literal quantity sense, which learners get on day one.
+2 more senses
大丈夫 (daijōbu)
adjective, interjection · Colloquial · dai-JOH-bu
All right; fine; safe. Asked of someone who has just tripped, or said of a plan that will hold.
+1 more sense
ドンマイ (donmai)
interjection · Colloquial · don-MAI
Never mind; don't sweat it. Said to someone who has just made a mistake, to wave it away before they apologise.
ガチ (gachi)
adjective, adverb · Informal · GA-chi
For real; no messing about; done in earnest rather than casually. ガチで走る is to actually run, not jog.
+1 more sense
一応 (ichiō)
adverb · Colloquial · ee-CHEE-oh
More or less; just in case; technically speaking. Attaches to a claim to lower its confidence without withdrawing it.
+1 more sense
草 (kusa)
noun, interjection · Informal · KOO-sa
lol. Written at the end of a message, or alone, to mark that something is funny.
+1 more sense
マジで (maji de)
adverb, interjection · Informal · MA-ji deh
Seriously; for real. As an intensifier before an adjective or verb: マジで美味しい, 'seriously good'.
+1 more sense
めっちゃ (meccha)
adverb · Colloquial · MET-cha
Very, really, loads — a general intensifier, and in casual speech far more common than the textbook とても.
なんか (nanka)
adverb, interjection · Colloquial · NAN-ka
Like; sort of; somehow. A hedge and a pause-filler, dropped in wherever an English speaker would say 'like' or 'I dunno, kind of'.
+1 more sense
しょうがない (shō ga nai)
phrase, adjective · Colloquial · shoh-ga-NAI
It can't be helped; nothing to be done. Closes off complaint about something outside anyone's control.
+1 more sense
それな (sore na)
phrase, interjection · Informal · soh-reh-NA
Exactly; this; so true. A whole-hearted agreement with what has just been said, and nothing more — it adds no content of its own.
とりあえず (toriaezu)
adverb · Colloquial · toh-ree-AH-ezu
For now; to start with; anyway. Marks a provisional decision made to stop deliberating rather than because it is the right one.
+1 more sense
わかりみ (wakarimi)
noun · Informal · wa-ka-REE-mee
Relatability; the quality of being something you deeply get. Usually in わかりみが深い — 'I feel that in my bones'.