ハンパない(=Hanpanai) * Slang Lesson

:maggie-small: 「今日の夕食、ハンパないわ！」

(=Kyou no yuushoku hanpa nai wa!)

“Today’s dinner is out of this world!”

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Today I will introduce you a very casual slang, ハンパない (=hanpa nai).
We use it when something is super, extraordinary, enormous, outrageous, kick ass, beyond our imagination, something extreme, great deal or a lot in quantity.

In some cases you can exchange ハンパない (=hanpa nai) with やばい (=yabai),

go check our previous lesson on Yabai.

”ハンパ” has kanji →半端 but as many other slang words we often use katakana instead.

First let’s take a look at the meaning of 半端 (=hanpa).

半端 (=hanpa) itself is not a slang. It means halfway/unfinished/odd/half-done/leftover

漢字(=Kanji)

:u:

半(=han)  half

•半分(=hanbun) half

•半分に分ける(= hanbun ni wakeru.) go halvsies, to split into 2 parts

端(=hashi/ tan/ha (pa) edge, end, tip

•先端 (=sentan) apex, peak, tip

•端に(=hashini) on  edge

Ex. 道路の端に一台の自転車が放置されている。

（=Douro no hashi ni ichidai no jitensha ga houchi sareteiru.)

Somebody left a bicycle on the side of the road.

:u: 　半端(=hanpa)

Ex.半端もの(=hanpa mono) odds and ends

Ex.半端が出たのであげます。(=hanpa ga deta no de agemasu.)

I will give you the leftovers. / We got an extra one so I’ll give it to you.

If you put a word 中途(=chuuto) in front of 半端(=hanpa), it adds or stresses the meaning of halfway, midway:

(cf : 中途(=chuuto)：中途採用(=chuuto saiyou) mid-career employment）

•中途半端(=chuuto hanpa) halfway, tepid, unfinished, by halves, half-hearted

Ex.作業を中途半端にやめる(=Sagyou wo chuuto hanpa ni yameru.) 

to leave the work unfinished

Ex. 中途半端なやり方をしないで下さい。(=Chuutohanpa na yarikata wo shinaide kudasai.)

Don’t do things in a half-baked way.

Ex. 中途半端な人は雇いたくない。(=Chuutohanpa na hito wa yatoitakunai.)

I don’t want to hire anybody who is irresponsible/leaves things unfinished/not good enough for this post careerwise or abilitywise.

Ex. 中途半端な気持でこの仕事は引き受けません。

(=Chuutohanpa na kimochi dewa kono shigoto wa hikiukemasen.)

If I were half-hearted about this, I wouldn’t take this job. (If I weren’t 100% committed, I wouldn’t take  this job.)

For those who like to learn slang!!

:qq: ハンパ（半端）ない(=hanpa nai）

Now, let’s see the slang for today! ハンパない(=hanpa nai)!

It  originally came from 半端ではない (=Hanpa dewa nai)  (or more casual 半端じゃない(=Hanpa jyanai)

It is “NOT 半端(=hanpa) unfinished” , so it means extremely good, mighty, really something, outrageous, enormous, a lot and etc. (*see the above definitions.)

It could be positive or negative.

From the picture above：

:maggie-small: 「今日の夕食、ハンパないわ！」(=Kyou no yuushoku hanpa naiwa!)

“Today’s dinner is out of this world!”

(Note: ~わ(~wa) ending is for women. If you are a man, you would say, ハンパないな（なあ）=(hanpa nai na(or naa)) or パネェな！(Paneena) in this case.)

＊彼の音楽はハンパない！(=Kare no ongaku wa hanpa nai!)

His music is outrageous. (In this case “outrageous” in a good way, of course.)

＊彼女の才能はハンパない！(=Kanojyo no sainou wa hanpa nai!)

Her talent is really something.

＊今日の寒さ、ハンパないね。

(=Kyou no samusa hanpa nai ne.

＝今日は、ハンパなく寒いね。(=Kyou wa hanpa naku samui ne.)

It’s incredibly cold today, isn’t it?

＊あそこのラーメンってハンパない味だよ。

(=Asoko no raamen tte hanpa nai aji dayo.)

＝~ハンパなく美味しい。(=~hanpa naku oishii.)

The ramen in that place is extremely delicious.

＊彼がバレンタインにもらうチョコの数はハンパない。

(=Kare ga barentain ni morau choko no kazu wa hanpa nai.)

＝~ハンパなく多い。(=~hanpa naku ooi.)

The number of chocolates he gets on St. Valentine’s day is incredible.

＊今月の電話代、ハンパない。(=Kongetsu no denwa dai hanpa nai)

＝~ハンパなく高い。(=~hanpa naku takai.)

This month’s telephone fee is outrageous.

＊このカレー、ハンパない辛さだ。(=Kono karee hanpa nai karasa da.)

＝~ハンパなく辛い。(=~hanpa naku karai.)

The curry in this place is super hot.

＊数学の試験がハンパない難しさだった。(=Suugaku no shiken ga hapa nai muzukashisa datta.)

=~がハンパなく難しかった。(=ga hanpanaku muzukashikatta)

The math exam was super difficult.

＊彼の筋肉ってハンパないよね。(=Kare no kinniku tte hanpa nai you ne.)

His muscles are great!

＊彼女のピアノはハンパなく上手い。(=Kanojo no piano wa  hanpa naku umai.)

She plays the piano amazingly well.

＊あいつってハンパないな。(=Aitsu tte hanpa nai na.) He is really something. (It could be good or bad.)

Note : The variation is ハンパねぇ(=hanpa nee) which is more vulgar or casual and is mainly used by men. (A comedian duo, “Total Tenbosu” has started to use this in their routine and have made it very popular.)

Also the abbreviation form is パねぇ(or パネェ). (It is even more vulgar or casual like yabai.)

(The comedian duo, クリームシチュー(Creamu sichuu), Cream Stew, asked their guests as their penalty game on their radio show, パねぇ質問 (=Panee shitsumon), extreme questions. Also it became popular among teenagers since a teen magazine started to use this word frequently.)

Ex. パネェくらいマギー先生のブログが好き！(Panee kurai Maggie sensei no burogu ga suki!) (A)

(=ハンパなくマギー先生のブログが好き！(=Hanpa naku Maggie sensei no burogu ga suki!)(B)

I just LOOOOOVE Maggie sensei’s blog!   (A) sounds more vulgar than (B) So be careful when you use (A)!! 

:rrrr: (Repeat this sentence 1,000 times as your homework!)

マギー先生より(=Maggie-sensei yori)  From Maggie-sensei

ここに来る皆の日本語もきっとハンパなく上手だと思うよ！

(=Kokoni kuru mina no nihongo mo kitto hanpa naku jouzu dato omou yo!)

I bet everybody who comes to this site speaks extremely good Japanese,too!