glossary

Here's a short glossary of terms you might run across in anime fandom. Mostly, they're Japanese words/terms, but theres a few scattered in that aren't Japanese, but you might not know the meaning of.

Please note that this is NOT a course in learning Japanese! These are words that tend to get thrown into fanfics, and while that really annoys me, some people might want to know the meaning of these words. If you're serious about learning Japanese, I would suggest taking a class to learn proper pronounciation and how to speak it correctly. ^_^

ai/ai shiteru
love / I love you

arigatou
thank you

angst
anxiety, heartbreak, agony: very prevalent in fanfics

baka
idiot; stupid person
no baka: stupid or idiotic.
baka yarro: dumbass
baka atama: stupid head! *LOL*

biseinen
beautiful young adult ~e.g. Zechs, who is to old to be bishounen~

bishoujo
pretty girl

bishounen
pretty boy: ~e.g. Duo or Quatre~

chibi
kid, also insulting term for a short person

daijobu
safe, fine, alright, I'm fine
"Daijobu desu ka?": Are you alright?
e.g. "Du: Man, Duo just got whacked by a bat again by Wufei. Duo, daijobu desu ka? Duo: Daijobu!"

dochirahe
how are you?: used in the greeting sense ~e.g. Duo and Quatre meet on the street: Quatre: Duo! Dochirahe? Duo: Fine thanks. You?~

doujinshi
refers to a class of manga, books, and artwork that are produced by people or groups other than the series creators

doushita
what's wrong?

gaijin
foreigner; someone who's not from Japan

glomp
to come up to another person and throw yourself onto him/her in a massive bear hug, often putting your cheeks together and hanging on long enough to make the other person irritated

gomen
I'm sorry, excuse me; by adding nasai at the end, it becomes more sincere

hai
yes, yes sir, yes ma'm ~I've never heard a difference in how it's pronounced to different people. I think it depends on who you're directing it to~

hajimemashite
nice to meet you.

honto ni
really?

iie
no

itai
painful; or used as the word "ouch!"

ittaizentai
whatever

ja ne
see ya; casual way of saying goodbye

kawaii
cute

kisama
you (impolite form): roughly translated as "bastard!"

kitto
absolutely/positively

koi/koibito
boyfriend or girlfriend

koi shiteru
I love you

Konnichiwa
hello/good afternoon

Konbanwa
good evening

kudasai
please

kuso/k'so
literally shit!

manga
Japanese comic books

miko
original meaning: a Shinto priestess who acts as an assistant to a priest within a particular god's shrine
in anime and on the web: refers to a girl or woman who is really devoted to a particular character

mina/mina-san
everyone, everybody: mina-san is the polite form

moshimoshi
hello on the phone

nani
what? ~usually used as a question~

nobbette kimi no mono
"Up yours!" *LOL*

Ohayou gozaimasu
Good Morning

Oi!
"Hey!"

"Omae o korosu"
Heero's infamous catch phrase: I will kill you.

onna
woman

otaku
used in anime to refer to anime fans that have become so obsessed they sometimes "live anime" so to speak.

SD/super-deformed
a particular drawing style that makes a character look very young and somewhat chubby: also used to describe chibi characters

seishi
a celestial warrior for a particular god

seiyuu
voice actor

shimatta
damn it/shit: all purpose swear word

shoujo
girl; shojo anime is created explicitly for young girls in Japan.

shounen (sho-oo nayn)
boy; shonen anime is created explicitly for young boys in Japan.

shounen-ai
boy-love; refers to anime or manga stories that portray a romantic relationship between two boys, who are usually bishounen. this is not as overt as yaoi, but involves a rather obvious pairing.

suki desu (ski dayss)
I'm fond of you; I love you

sumimasen
I'm sorry; forgive me

youkoso
nice to see you!

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