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How to speak Japanese like a gyaru【2024 edition】

Casey Baseel Dec 3, 2024
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Models and readers of gyaru fashion magazine Egg vote on the top 10 gyaru words/phrases of the year.

Egg is one of Japan’s premier gyaru fashion magazines. Gyaru culture isn’t just about eye-catching flashy fashions, though, but also about outspoken youthful expressiveness in all aspects of life, including how gyaru talk.

Because of that, Egg puts together an annual list of the top 10 trending gyaru slang/buzzwords. The list is compiled through a survey of Egg’s featured models as well as fans who follow the magazine’s official Instagram and Line social media accounts, and the 2024 results have just been released, so let’s take a look and update our gyaru vocabulary lists.

10. shabai
Shabai, according to Egg, combines the atmosphere of the preexisting Japanese words dasai, “lame”/”uncool”, and shoboi, “cheap”/”mediocre.”

● Egg’s example sentence
Kono meshi, shabakunai?
(Ain’t this food kinda shabai?)

9. chiimu tomodachi
Chiimu here is the corrupted Japanese pronunciation of the English “team,” while tomodachi is the word for “friend.” Chiimu tomodachi refers to a friend you’ve got an especially strong bond and sense of trust with.

▼ “Chiimu Tomodachi” is also the title of a song released earlier this year by Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba, which is where the gyaru slang term originates.

8. wakannokannokannomiho
The starting point for this major mouthful of gyaru slang is just wakaru, which literally means “I understand,” but can also be used to show agreement with something someone just said, sort of like “I get what you’re saying.” In casual conversation, the single syllable “n” sound can be used as a sort of all-purpose contraction, and tacking no at the end of a statement is a girlish way of adding emphasis.

In this way, Egg says, a gyaru can say “Wakanno,” to show enthusiastic agreement with what a fellow girl just said, and then if the rest of the people in the conversion want to join in with a second round of agreement, they’ll use the phrase wakannokannokannomiho to signify “Yeah, we agree too, for reals!”

● Egg’s example sentence
Gyaru A: I’m, like, totally starving!
Gyaru B: Wakanno!
Gyaru C and D: Wakannokannokannomiho!

7. giri happii
Happi here is just the English “happy,” with giri, a shortened version of girigiri/“barely” coming before it. Giri happii is for situations where something bad has happened, but it’s coupled with something that just barely more than makes up for it. It’s a more positive feeling than the consolation prize-like feeling of “Every cloud has a silver lining,” but while still acknowledging that you’re just “barely happy” with the outcome.

● Egg’s example sentence
Tsume toreta kedo, kozeni hiroiyasui kara giri happii.
(My fingernail came off, but it’s easier to pick up coins now, so I’m giri happy.)

6. jiba
A simple one: jiba is a contraction of jibara, meaning to pay for something yourself out of pocket, as opposed to being treated or having it comped. It was popularized by Egg fashion model Erika.

● Egg’s example sentence
Moshikashite korette jiba?
(Wait, I’m supposed to pay for this myself?)

5. furo kyanseru kaiwai

Furo is Japanese for “bath” and kyanseru is the corrupted pronunciation of “cancel.” Things start to get hazier with kaiwai, which means “neighborhood,” but the overall takeaway here is something along the lines of “cancelled bath community,” as furo kyanseru kaiwai indicates someone who’s skipping their bath/shower that day because bathing feels like too much of a hassle. It can also be used as a verb phrase by tacking suru (“to do”) on the end of it.

● Egg’s example sentence
Kyou furo kyanseru kaiwai suru wa.
(Gonna skip showering today.)

4. Mou ee desho.
Technically, Mou ee desho isn’t specific to gyaru, and it’s not a particularly new phrase either. Really, it’s just a variation of Mou ii desho, meaning “Enough already” or “Give it a rest,” with a bit sharper edge to it by swapping in ee, the Kansai-dialect version of ii. Still, Mou ee desho got a spot on Egg’s list thanks to it being a catchphrase of actor Pierre Taki’s character Goto in streaming series Tokyo Swindlers.

● Egg’s example sentence
Gyaru tired of being asked so many questions: Mou ee desho.
(Ugh, enough already!)

3. shirankedo
Here we’ve got another example of all-purpose contraction n, this time being used to shorten shiranai/”I don’t know.” Kedo just means “but,” making shiran kedo literally “but I don’t know.” The phrase is used when passing on information you’ve heard while also showing that you take no responsibility for what the other person does or doesn’t do with that information, similar in tone to “Hey, just letting you know.”

● Egg’s example sentence:
Yuugata kara ame da yo. Shirankedo.
(It’s supposed to start raining in the evening. Just letting you know.)

Like mou ee desho, shirankedo is actually a phrase that’s been around for a long time. It’s getting heavier rotation in gyaru circles these days, though, because it’s also the title of a hit song by gyaru vocal unit Kogyaru.

▼ “Shirankedo” was actually released in December of 2023, but the phrase really started getting traction among gyaru in 2024.

2. umasugiyarogai
Umasugi literally means “too delicious,” but it really gets used to mean something is incredibly/unbelievably tasty. Umasugi is a commonly used phrase among the general population, but gyaru have taken to tacking on a little extra to make umasugiyarogai, which describes a food coma-like sensation of feeling lazy after eating something really good.

● Egg’s example sentence
Gyaru after eating a good meal: Umasugiyarogai!

1. Sore gaachaa?
Sore gaachaa? is another way of saying Sore gachi?, meaning “Is that for real?” or “Are you serious?” While Egg lists Sore gaachaa? as its top gyaru phrase for 2024, it also says that it’s usually used in combination with some sort of apology, making it a phrase to use when you suddenly find out you caused a problem for someone else and want to show that you had no idea you were bothering them, but that you’re sorry all the same.

● Egg’s example sentence
Person A: You were snoring like crazy all night and I couldn’t sleep.
Person B: Sore gaachaa? Honma gomen ya de.
(Oh, for real? Sorry about that, seriously.)

▼ Egg has also put out a video in which a team of the magazine’s models discuss and demonstrate the list’s entries.

Of course, just like being a CPA, medical physician, or lawyer, being a gyaru linguist requires a certain amount of ongoing education effort, as new words and phrases rise and fall in fashion. This list should give you a solid start, though, and if you want to give your Japanese even more of a youthful sheen, don’t forget to check out the year’s top JC and JK buzzwords too.

Source: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert image: Pakutaso
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