“Mangatic” Reaction Japanese
「あっ！好きな人がいる手相が出てる！」
= Ah! Sukina hito ga iru tesou ga deteru!
= Oh! You “paw lines” tell me you are in love with someone.
「ドキッ！わかる？」
= Doki! Wakaru?
= Whoa!? You can tell that!?
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Hello, everyone! I can finally post new lessons again.
Sorry to have kept you waiting! I think most of the maintenance is done! We’ll see…
Here’s a question for you.
Do you think Japanese people talk like in manga?
The answer is “Yes and No”.
So many people are learning Japanese through anime or comic books. I personally think it is a great way to learn Japanese.
But at the same time, there is a risk that you may offend someone without knowing the language you are using is very vulgar, rough or may even sound childish.
Also there are lots of expressions that are only used in the fictional anime world. So please be careful!
Today’s lesson is about “verbal reaction sounds” that you might have seen in anime or manga.
There are a lot of “sounds” to describe each action or emotion in Japanese.
I think every language has its own sounds to describe sounds or actions.
Japanese sounds are exceptionally rich and are strongly influenced by manga.
There are too many to include in just one lesson, so today, I’ll just teach you the verbal sounds that we actually use when we react or express our emotions in conversation.
They are all casual and mostly used by young people or kids.
OK, let’ start!
We write them in hiragana or katakana. Also we tend to write “ー” (a bar to stretch out vowel sounds). We sometimes use this sign: “〜” to make it look cuter when we write but the pronunciation is the same.)
★When you are surprised.
ワッ！(or わっ！）= Wah!
(You can also say this when you scare someone)
Ex. When your friend tapped your shoulder somewhere you didn’t expect.
わっ！びっくりした！
= Wah! Bikkuri shita!
= Oh, you scared me!
To show your surprise more.
わ〜っ！ = Waah!
It depends on the intonation. It can be used when you are very happy or impressed.
Ex. 「このケーキ私が作ったの。」
= Kono keiki watashi ga tsukutta no.
= I made this cake.
「 わ〜っ! すごい！」
= Waa sugoi!
= Wow! Impressive!
★When you are surprised to hear or see something shocking, scary, or gross.
「あっ、そこゴキブリ！」
= Ah! Soko gokiburi!
= Ah! There’s a cockroach!
「ひえ〜！」= Hieee!
variation
With more emotion to it,
•ぎょえ〜！ = ギョエ〜！= Gyoee!
•きょえ〜! = キョエ〜！＝Kyoee!
★When you are frightened.
•ギョッ！ = Gyo!
A more comical variation of this is:
•ギョギョ！！= Gyo gyo! （a bit old fashioned.)
★You scream like this when you see something very scary or when you want to exaggerate your surprised feelings.
•ギャーッ！= Gyaaa!
★When you hear or see something shocking and want to express your “shocked” feeling,
•が〜ん！= Gaan!
Ex.「今日試験があるんだって。」
= Kyou shiken ga arun datte.
= I’ve heard there is an exam today.
「が〜ん！」
= Gaan!
Ex. 「が〜ん！ 鍵を中に入れたままドア閉めちゃった。」
= Gaan! Kagi wo naka ni ireta mama doa shimechatta.
= Oh shoot! (Oh no..) I locked myself out.
★When someone sees through your secret.
•ドキッ！ = Doki!
•ぎくっ！ = Giku!
Ex. 「ねえ、マギー私のおやつ食べたでしょ！」
= Nee, Maggie watashi no oyatsu tabetadesho!
= Hey, you ate my snack, didn’t you, Maggie!
「ドキッ！ 」= Doki!
or
「ぎくっ！」 = Giku!
★ When you are disgusted, Yikes! Yucky
•ゲー！ = geeh!
Ex.「今日の夕食は、納豆だよ！」
= Kyou no yuushoku wa nattou dayo!
= Today’s dinner is natto! (= fermented soybeans.)
「ゲー！」 = geeh! = Yikes!
★ To express your sad feeling （in a comical way)
•ええん/えーん / エ〜ン= Een
•ぐすん /グスン = gusun
Ex.「ええん、ipod壊れちゃった..」
= Een aipoddo kowarechatta…
= Shoot! My iPod is broken…
★When you are happy,
•わーい ！= Waai = Yay!
to show more happiness or joy
•わーいわーい！= Waai waaai!
•やったあ〜！/ ヤッター！ = Yattaa! = Great!, I made it!
（you can combine with わーい！(= Waai) or わーいわーい (= Waai waai) ）
Ex. 「これ、買ってあげる！」
= Kore katte ageru!
= I will buy you this!
「わ〜い！やったあ〜！」
= Waai! Yattaaa!
★When a girl gets excited or sees something very cute or someone very attractive, they scream,
キャー = Kyaa
Ex.「これ、プラダの新作のバッグ買っちゃった！」
= Kore, purada no shinsaku no baggu kacchatta!
=I got this new designed Prada bag!
「キャーすごい！」
= Kyaa sugoi!
= Oh wow!
★ When someone did a good job or when you accomplish something we say,
パチパチ = pachipachi
It is meant to sound like applause.
Ex. 「出来た〜！」
= Dekitaa!
= We made it!
「パチパチ! 」
= Pachipachi!
= Yay!
★When you are expecting something exciting.
•ワクワク o(^o^)o
= wakuwaku ( Sounds a bit feminine)
Ex. (Opening a present.)
「ワクワク！何が入っているのかな？」
= Wakuwaku! Nani ga haitte iru no kana?
★When you want to express happiness in a sexy way (for girls)
This is more subtle. (Girls only) kind of sexy sound. When you are happy or satisfied
•うふっ = Ufu
If it is written, we often write うふっ♥ or うふっ♪
Ex. 「ねえ、旬君と付き合ってるってほんと？」
= Nee, Shun kun to tsukiatterutte honto?
= Hey, is it true that you have been going out with Shun?
「うふっ!」
= Ufu!
(That means “Yes!”)
Ex. 「そのワンピすごく似合ってるね。新しく買ったの？」
= Sono wanpi sugoku niatterune. Atarashiku katta no?
= You look great in the dress. Did you buy that recently?
「うふっ♥」
= Ufu♥
(That means “Yes” and “I am happy with it”.)
★When you are disappointed. Also when you accuse someone of making a mistake
あーあ… = Aah ah… (intonation is important.)
Ex. 「あーあ..明日は雨かあ。」
= Aaa… Ashita wa ameakaa.
= Too bad…It is going to rain tomorrow.
★When you want to show your disappointment and resentment
チェッ = Che = Shoot! Tsk!
Ex. 「今日、休みなの？チェッ! ついてないなあ。」
= Kyou yasuminano? Che! Tsuitenai naa..
= It is closed today? Shoot. Bad luck.
★When someone hurts your feelings we jokingly say,
ぐさっ！ = グサッ！= Gusah! = Ouch!
This is the sound a knife makes as it is plunged into your heart.
Ex.「マギーよりジンジャーの方がかわいいね。」
= Maggie yori jinnjaa no hou ga kawaii ne.
= Ginger is cuter than Maggie!
Maggie : 「グサッ！」
= Gusa!
=Ouch!
★To describe a very quite situation where nobody is willing to talk or respond,
しーん = シーン= Shiin
We even say this jokingly when nobody is willing to do something.
Ex. 「誰か、食器を洗うの手伝ってくれる人！」
= Dare ka shokki wo arau no tetsudatte kureru hito!
= So who wants to help me do wash the dishes?
「シーン..!」
＝Shiiin!
(Which means “nobody!”. It’s like the sound of crickets in English skits are used to show nobody is there. However in Japanese it might mean nobody is there or nobody is willing to engage or respond to a speaker or situation.)
★When you show something. Usually when you show off something new.
じゃーん！ or ジャーン！ = Jaaan!
Ex. Showing your new car,
「ジャーン！新車買ったんだ！」
= Jaan! Shinsha kattanda!
= Tada! I bought a new car!
★When you hear or see someone is in love, you can tease them by making this sound,
ヒューヒュー = Hyuu hyuu ( a bit old fashioned.)
Ex. 「これからデートなんだ！」
= Korekara deito nanda!
= I have a date now!
「ヒューヒュー ！」
= Hyuu hyuu!
★When someone’s guess is correct,
Instead of saying 当たり= atari ( Go check my lesson, atari & hazure )
ピンポーン！
= Pinpoon!
It is the sound effect of a “correct” chime in a quiz show.
Ex. Showing an old picture,
A :「これ、誰だ？」
= Kore dareda?
= Guess who this is!
B :「マギー?」
= Maggie?
A : 「ピンポーン！」
= Pinpoon!
= Bingo! / That’s right!
★And if someone missed the answer or says a wrong answer,
ブッブー！
= Bu buuu
It is also from a sound effect of buzzer in a quiz show.
★When you are shivering,
We say,
ブルブル = buruburu = brrrr…
★When you sniff things
クンクン = kunkun = sniff sniff
Ex. 「クンクン、何かいい匂いがするね。何作ってるの？」
= Kunkun, nanika ii nioi ga surune. Nani tsukutteruno?
= Snif snif.. Something smells good. What are you cooking?
OK, these verbal sound words are not just for young people. These are not exactly a sound but we say these regardless of age,
★When you start a game or something with someone at the same time we say
•せーの = Seeno
•１、２の３ = Ichi ni no san
•いっせのせ = Isse no se
•よーいどん = Yooidon!
★When you lift something very heavy or put something heavy down — like your heavy shopping bags, etc, we say,
よいしょ = Yoisho
We sometimes say this when we sit down after a long tiring day.
These are for older generation.
•よっこいしょ = Yokkoisho
•どっこいしょ = Dokkoisho
From the picture.
•手相 = tesou = the lines of one’s palm, palm reading
マギー先生より = Maggie Sensei yori = From Maggie Sensei
うふっ♥ 手相って当たるわね。
= Ufu♥ Tesoutte ataru wane.
= Fufu… I think palm reading is accurate.
7 Responses to ““Mangatic” Reaction Japanese”
Leave a Reply
@maggiesensei 
Itsumaru on November 19th, 2010
Hey Yukari! So glad you guys are back and i just wanted to say hi to you and maggie! *hugs*
Maggie on November 19th, 2010
@Itsumaru
Thank you for your message! I am glad we can make lessons here again!!
A big hug for you,too!
Top on November 18th, 2010
I see..thank you much sensei^^
Maggie on November 18th, 2010
@Top
どういたしまして。もしこれは使うかどうかわからない表現があればいつでも聞いて下さいね。
Top on November 19th, 2010
(≧∇≦)ﾉ ﾊｰｲ♪
Maggie on November 18th, 2010
@Top
お待たせしました！
There sooo many!
I would avoid using expressions or words which are too dramatic, extreme or comical
I am sure you all know this but don’t use any of ninja anime expressions.
拙者 = sessha
~でござる = ~ de gozaru, etc.
The way old people or villain speak is too extreme.
*~しておろうが = ~ shite orouga
*貴様 = kisama
*汝 = nanji
*お遊びはこれまでだ・・・= Oasobi wa koremade da
*あばよっ！ = Abayo
*さらばじゃ = Sarabaja!
*わし = washi
We don’t use these comical expressions in our everyday conversation:
*ぎゃふん！ =Gyafun
*ヘヘッ、そうこなくっちゃ！！= Hehe soukonakuccha!
*てへっ = Tehe
*でへっ = Deha
*ちィッ！ = Chii
There are too dramatic.
*す…すまん = Su…suman
*ご…ごめん= Go…gomen
You might see a cool character says
*フッ… = Fu…
when he reflects something. We never say that.
The way rich women talk is unrealistic too.
*～ですわ = desuwa..
*〜ざます = zamasu
Top on November 18th, 2010
オカエリ^^ please list a couple of examples in which we shouldn’t talk like a manga character, sensei?