Offensive & Taboo Japanese Words Explained

Today I discuss the more taboo Japanese words and phrases and why you shouldn't use (some of) them.
Patreon: patreon.com/FreeBirdJP
Discord: FreeBirdJP
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:16 Somewhat Risky
7:29 Proceed with Caution
14:21 You're Getting Fired
20:24 Advice for Taboo Language
21:44
Music: Laura Shigihara - Zombie On Your Lawn (Instrumental)

[@iusearchbtw69]

Saying お infront of a word can turn it into polite Also Japanese when you say お前 : 🤨

[@knethen]

From what I've heard it used to be respectful in the past but somehow flipped 貴様 apparently went through a similar change

[@iusearchbtw69]

@@knethen Just like how "Thou" was used by the peasant in the past

[@RadenWA]

@@iusearchbtw69it is true, 貴様 kanji per kanji means “very esteemed one”, the 貴 is the same as 貴重 “valuable” 貴族 “noble” and the 様 is _literally_ the honorific “sama” you put behind a title or respected person’s name. I think it became a sort of sarcasm.

[@ZILtoid1991]

What about 前 by itself?

[@consumingkazoos]

@@ZILtoid1991 it's まえ mae, which i would translate as "before".

[@malapertfourohfour2112]

Leaving language learners innocent and ignorant of profanity GUARANTEES they will eventually make the mistakes, rather than just giving them the option.

[@The-Sycophant-Fox]

Affirmly I agree, people should think about how we learn taboo words in their, or our, native language for context on good ways to approach it. When we're kids we usually are told it's profanity, and if the parents are smart enough they'll even tell their children exactly why you should be careful about that word.

[@EPI3BUTTER]

May be almost 12 but never hurts to learn a little extra stuff before I sleep.

[@irfanmuzaki6698]

2 hours later~

[@BleachedPeehole]

Happy 12th bday lil man

[@kevion5595]

Go to sleeep

[@juicyboxesxo]

oh i thought you meant in AGE, like you're 11 turning 12 😭 hwhahahs

[@themustardthe]

Don’t post about your age online until you’re older, it makes you look weird

[@greatwave2480]

I guess using "anata" is kinda like adressing someone with "hey, you" instead of their name because you didn't bother to remember it.

[@vitaliykormov1266]

Not me saying 死んでください instead of saying してください on my first trip to Japan …

[@euryptrey]

I said 死にたい once as a joke to a JP friend. I think I know why I haven't talked to them much since lol (Wish I could apologize now but that was 6 months ago and I just realised this... Today.. so that's that)

[@sanjeev.rao3791]

​@@euryptreynot sure why they'd be offended if you said that you want to die. Although it would be uncomfortable...

[@euryptrey]

@@sanjeev.rao3791 I wouldn't say they were offended but severely uncomfortable? For sure

[@namensklauer]

beginners mistake, you need to be more polite. Next time say 死んでもらいませんか

[@UglyBabyFunny]

​@@euryptreydgmw i get the whole "it's been too long" thing but i honestly think it's worth a shot especially since it's clearly affected them to some extent. you have a reasonable explanation, and if they're worth keeping around, they'll be accepting of it.

[@ryguy2006]

Then there's pronouncing 9 as く, which is a homophone with 苦 (suffering). Thus, 49 gives us しく, again a homophone with 死苦 (to suffer a terrible death). Japanese society in general avoids these numbers anyways due to their connotations, but it's good to know. Edit: It just came to me that an even more vulgar way of saying 死ぬ is 下がる, implying the subject is also going to hell.

[@equilibrum999]

szikhu

[@Grovyle10]

I remember I once tried to say "The father always wakes his children up" in Japanese and instead of saying おこす I accidentally said おかす. My teacher looked a bit startled and taken aback, but she didn't say anything and just corrected me, but when I went back home and looked up what おかす means, I facepalmed SO hard.

[@jamm6_514]

Oh lord...

[@auroraborealis1383]

For anyone who wants to know and didn't want to look it up (like me), it means "To violate", in pretty much all connotations of that word.

[@Persephone3X]

I looked that up and oh god that must have been embarrassing

[@twig6102]

My mom told me that when she lived in Japan some 30 odd years ago she had a close male friend and made that same mistake when talking about him to his mother

[@RadenWA]

Last time I was at Japan with my family, we were in a crowded place and they were looking for me so I yelled “over here” in my language which is “sini”, which due to my accent sounded like I yelled “shine” to my family. Worst thing is that I _knew_ Japanese and I know what 死ね means. It just didn’t register to me when I was speaking my language that the word sounded the same 💀 I suppose a Japanese who tasted something incredibly bitter in the west might encounter this same problem.

[@roofogato]

What word is the last sentence refering to .w.

[@iusearchbtw69]

Well hello there my fellow Indonsian Japanese-learner ^_^

[@greatwave2480]

@@roofogato 苦い I guess. Sounds kinda like the n-word.

[@KaoruMzk]

​@@roofogato 苦い which is pronounced "nigai"

[@sournois90]

​​@@KaoruMzkfunny thing is that AFAIK spicy in japanese is karai, and carai in Brazil is a very informal and rude curse word, short for caralho. so it's so funny for me either imagining a japanese person saying this in public here in Brazil or me being allowed to use such a funny swear word in Japan and not get any consequences LMAO

[@antaris905]

One word I want to add is kichigai. This translates to nutjob, lunatic, etc, but in a very discriminating way. This word right now in 2024 will give you dirty look when used, is outright banned in Japanese media, and even vulgar Japanese netizens rarely use it, but during and before Showa era it was commonly used; you can even find newspaper and books that used it. The word was a product during a time period that mental disabilities and illness were not treated with respect but as social liability and unfavorable existence. The whole process is Kinda like English speaking communities phasing out the usage of r*tard.

[@Nihongodesu-cv9uj]

I tried to see the kanji of it by saying it to the google translator but it censored the word 💀 Damn...

[@brutallicabg]

I'd say it's very irresponsible NOT to teach profanities and word connotations to language learners. As you pointed out, it's mostly the lack of understanding that can lead to miscommunication and awkward or outright dangerous social situations. Sure, some younger students will probably abuse this newly acquired knowledge for a while ("for the lolz"), but that's still better than not having this knowledge at all. So thank you for bringing this topic up and explaining it in such a calm and sensible way. And congrats on 3k! 🎉

[@JanxZ]

7:05 I think the main reason Japanese people don't correct when people count "いち・に・さん・し" is not only because it's impolite to correct others, but also because MOST Japanese people actually count 4 the on'yomi way.

[@oivinf]

12:18 I have Japanese friends who frequently use "kuso" in contexts like 「下手くそ」. And I'm not talking young rough dudes, I'm talking a female friend in her early 20's said it to me to describe a video we were watching. And also an older man I know who posted it to his Facebook (describing his own skill at something as crap). He's a Michelin chef. So in my experience people use these words in everyday conversation if they're comfortable around you

[@ChrisHilgenberg]

I've also heard it in context to emphasize that someone REALLY is bad with something in the context that they can't stand or tolerate something, like 'I don't like horror movies, I'm REALLY bad with them'

[@Draconic_Aura]

kuso is totally fine to use, like how "shit" is totally fine to use. the issue comes with words like mango or rhymes with phone (I've heard mango used once in Japan, and phone never)

[@Nakuke3]

@@oivinf little kids use that writers it’s really not that bad

[@urban94]

Words like 気違い are also interesting. Heard it used to be a more common way to say someone's a insane, but now it's completely off limits. I remember it was used in a translation for the game Celeste and the company had to seriously apologize for its use and remove it as soon as possible.

[@Trainfan1055Janathan]

I once made the mistake of saying ま◯こ in a comment section of a video and I will never make that mistake again. I was instantly called out for it with ちょっとキモいですね。 I tried to defend it, saying that it was just a joke, but I had already lost the argument. A truly humbling moment.

[@greatwave2480]

キモいですね indeed...

[@loopasadge]

I wish I understood 🥹

[@nico-van-beethoven]

​@@loopasadgedude made a mistake saying "manko" (pussy) and got called out with "chotto kimoi desu ne" ("kinda gross, no?" ((not direct translation, i have a little brain, sorry)) )

[@AquaticMyst]

@@loopasadge so the word is まんこ and you can look it up if you want the English translation, and ちょっとキモいですね in English means “that’s a little creepy “ (I only uncensored the word for educational purposes and so people know to avoid using it 👍🏽)

[@blasianking4827]

@@loopasadge The word is a vulgar term that refers to a woman's privates; it's quite a dirty term that you'd only use in certain contexts like joking around with really good friends or talking super dirty. It's kind of like saying 'pussy' in English, but worse as Japanese culture is quite conservative. There are more euphemistic terms to use when talking in general.

[@bowaxer7952]

I will never forget when I accidentally said ちんぽ instead of さんぽ and absoluty stunlocked my Japanese teacher. For those who don't know: ちんぽ=weiner さんぽ=walk

[@consumingkazoos]

lmao dick jokes (it's funny trust me bro)

[@Sopran0livia]

To be fair it doesn’t help that at least in text the hiragana characters are literally just flipped versions of eachother; I’ve definitely read ち as さ and vice versa but thankfully nothing that bad I’m so sorry 😭😭😭

[@xsinam]

"thank you for the lesson, I'm going for a weiner"

[@danielantony1882]

@@Sopran0livia It would be easier if you just used the Kanji, like how the Japanese do it. Avoiding Kanji really isn’t gonna get you anywhere if you’re more than 2-3 months into learning Japanese.

[@User-ei8uh]

@@Sopran0livia It's all about getting used to the characters. In english we also have similar cases like 'd' and 'b' or 'q' and 'p'. Not to mention the almost indistinguishable capital 'i' and lowercase 'l' in some situations as well.

[@timalley3906]

Very useful video. Thank you for posting. Maybe it's a recent thing, but edgy "subculture" (サブカル) girls saying 死にたい when they get embarrassed or they're tired is definitely a thing. Maybe it's regional idk, but I hear it quite often in Kansai.

[@FreeBirdJPYT]

@@timalley3906 yeah I’ve heard some edgy girls say it. I lived in Kyuushuu so I didn’t come across it often.

[@izanegi]

can attest, friend of mine from Gifu mentioned 「死ぬ」 when talking about slang (i.e. "I'm dead")

[@Nobody2989]

Thru googling, I learned about this actress 紅萬子. Crimson Vag sounds like an awesome superhero name.

[@triforcehero6006]

Found your channel through JJ's new video and I've just been binging your stuff, this kinda content is right up my alley.

[@FreeBirdJPYT]

@@triforcehero6006 appreciate this 🙏🙏

[@cadestrathern1260]

Swearing in Japanese: *says you* oh no my fweelings uwu Swearing in Russian: *needed to understand what anyone is saying*

[@j100j]

Jävla

[@greatwave2480]

Not really "needed", no, I don't think you'll be hearing much swearing until you get really close with someone who swears a lot (and that's NOT the majority of people like some may think). Also swearing in public is pretty much taboo too, especially if there are children or elderly people around, you'll get a side eye at least. Also might get scolded because watch your language, young man! Swearing is not really a cool thing either, if you overuse it you'll sound like a country bumpkin and/or a delinquent. Or an edgy 10 year old if you also use it wrong. It just frustrates me when people from other countries think that in russia it's somehow completelly okay to go around shout "suka bl*yat'" like it's nothing. While curses are undeniably a part of language and culture you really shouldn't use them until you are completelly aware of the right context and use for each word.

[@AlmondShinShap]

Learning every swear word in Russian is very fun, I most recently learned «Что за хуйна» “what the fuck” or “what a fuck”. Extremely fun

[@abbylafey]

​@@greatwave2480 It was a joke

[@greatwave2480]

@@abbylafey it's not funny

[@foogod4237]

10:52 I'm pretty sure the reason for his reaction was just the sheer shock of not only being called out in public, but being called out using completely natural Japanese speech, by _the whitest-looking white boy,_ in the middle of Japan... This is a beautiful example of a perfect Reverse Gaijin Smash, IMHO...

[@mariotaz]

I think I remember you from Duolingo forums.

[@anguscarpenter5254]

Not completely natural Japanese; 何をしてるぞ is wrong it should be 何(を)してんだお前?! Or something like that. ぞ does not fit.

[@mandeledits8570]

So in Japan we got: You (deuragoratory) You (sometimes deragoratory) You (even more derogatory) You (the most derogatory)

[@foogod4237]

[Note: I am not a native speaker, but this is my understanding based on a lot of analysis and study of these issues, and talking with various native speakers] IMHO, the "impoliteness" of あなた is not about being direct. Japanese can actually often be far more blunt than English, honestly. In fact, the word あなた is not impolite in and of itself at all. What is rude is not the *use* of あなた but instead it is the *failure to use* someone's actual name instead. In Japanese, referring to someone else by their name is considered a sign of respect, and this is true even when they are the one you are talking to. Therefore, if you know their name, and you need to refer to them, you should always use their name, not a pronoun. If you do not know someone else's name (and cannot reasonably be expected to), then using something like あなた is not necessarily rude, and people do actually do that in those situations sometimes. However, if you do (or should) know someone's name, but you call them あなた instead of using their name, what that basically says is "you are not important enough for me to even remember your name", and *that* can seem very disrespectful. (And あなた is actually not special in this regard. The same can be true with other pronouns like 彼 and 彼女 too. If you use them instead of someone's name (when you know that person's name), that can seem disrespectful, not because you used the word, but because you *didn't* use their name when you could have.) However, あなた is used all the time in things like printed forms (where the person writing the form has no idea what the name of the person filling it out will be), or when talking to something like a broadcast audience (where there's no way to use everyone's name directly, even if you could know what it was), or occasionally even when you've just met someone and have not yet had a chance to learn their name, etc. In those situations, there's nothing rude about it, because you wouldn't be able to use their name anyway. So in the case of 「あなたの名前は何ですか？」, this is *not* actually rude, because in this case, you clearly do not already know their name, so you could not refer to them by name yet anyway. However, it is still rather *awkward,* simply because in that situation あなた is really not _necessary_ to say at all, and Japanese also does not tend to use pronouns unless they're really necessary. It is just quicker and more natural to say「お名前」instead, so everybody does.

[@noemibernal4882]

Very enlightening. Thank you!

[@BL-ob9fn]

"Anata" ("ano kata") literally means "that person over there", it's just about as indirect a way to refer to someone as possible. It's hyper-polite; a wife uses it to respectfully address her husband (who repays her by gruffly addressing her as "omae"). Related words are "konata/kono kata" (this person), "sonata/sono kata" (that person/you) and "donata/dono kata" (which person/who?). It's just as you say, the word "anata" is not in itself rude in any way, it's just rude not to refer to someone by his or her name or title.

[@foogod4237]

@@BL-ob9fn I think you have a couple of misunderstandings: First, そなた ("sonata") is not even really a word (at least in modern Japanese). Well, technically it is a word (ソナタ), but it's a foreign loanword and just means "sonata" (a type of musical composition). It's not a pronoun and has nothing to do with 其の方 ("sono kata"). (The word you're presumably thinking of (其方) is typically pronounced そちら ("sochira") instead (and 此方 is usually pronounced こちら ("kochira"), rather than こなた ("konata").) Second, あなた ("anata") is not the same as 彼の方 ("ano kata"). "Ano kata" is indeed a fairly polite term, but "anata" is *not* particularly polite at all. It is, at best, just neutral (with the potential to be impolite if used in the wrong way). They actually don't even mean the same thing ("anata" means "you" (second-person pronoun), but "ano kata" means "him/her" (third-person pronoun)). Wives/husbands no not call their partner "anata" because it is respectful. It's actually *exactly the opposite.* This is a term of endearment that people only use to refer to each other if they are in a very close and trusting relationship, and they use it because it basically signals "I can trust that you will know implicitly how much I care for you, so I can feel safe using terms like this without risking offending you." They use it specifically because it is understood that to anyone else it would be rude, but their partner won't think it's rude because they have such a good relationship with each other that they will know that they don't mean it in that way. Also, don't fall into the trap of thinking that because something originally came from respectful language a long time ago, that that means it's respectful now. Both お前 ("omae") and 貴様 ("kisama") were, once upon a time, extremely respectful forms of address, but nowadays in modern Japanese they are typically considered insults or even curse words instead...

[@NakamuraSatou]

I feel like 死ね is a very heavy word, not necessarily because of the meaning, but rather the phrasing sounds a bit too passive. I've seen Japanese people jokingly saying ぶっ殺すぞ a lot. I feel like in some way, this one is way too aggressive which warps back to be funny.

[@Alberto2]

The one pronounced "Teme" would be disastrous because it's very similar to the casual "you" in many European languages, so the easiest one to learn is the one you can't use.

[@Octane_au]

Recently discovered your channel. So refreshing to see interesting and unique content rather than the standard "how I passed N1 in 3 months". Saying that, a video on how you specifically got to the level you're at, given the depth and breadth of your knowledge, would be really interesting. I find Japanese to be a fascinating language, but I suck at learning it because I find it far more interesting to learn "about" the Japanese language than learning to actually speak it. I'm about N4 level now but I'm moving back there next month indefinitely, so I really need to learn to communicate well asap. *Edit: 3K!! 👏🥳

[@nickiminaj0882]

I feel like people who say that they passed n1 in 1 second just learned how to pass those tests, not how to really speak the language 😂

[@Octane_au]

​@@nickiminaj0882yeah agreed! I was more just referring to that kind of clickbait SEO content though. Informative and interesting content on Japanese is pretty hard to find on YT.

[@nickiminaj0882]

@@Octane_au advanced lessons are also hard to find, it's always "basic japanese grammar" and "how lo learn japanese" 🤭

[@FreeBirdJPYT]

@@nickiminaj0882 most of the “I PASSED N1 IN 3MONTHS!!” Videos are 🧢

[@maxime_627]

About the Mango word, I remember answering to a question that my teacher asked us in my first year of university. She wanted us to translate « I want to eat mango » in Japanese and when I answered I accidentally forgot the てんてん on ゴ…

[@FreeBirdJPYT]

@@maxime_627 that is an INCREDIBLY risky sentence to ask learners to write

[@loopasadge]

@@FreeBirdJPYTMaybe a trolly teacher ❤

[@BluesM18A1]

Gotta be careful that I don't miss a syllable and say 「お前は何ですか？」when I'm only trying to ask for their name lol

[@Neyapo]

lmao straight up asking "what are you!?"😂😂

[@smileyp4535]

10:48 and 16:18 Oooh damn wow... that Explains the fist of the north star meme "omae wa mou shindeiru" not only is he saying "you're already dead" but he's also putting some serious *stank* on it 😂😂😂

[@billygoatguy3960]

It's a good video but...as someone that doesn't know all of the words...censoring new words is just not very helpful? I don't know what the full word is or how it's pronounced so it's pretty much half information. I get that you have to be careful but I can't know what you're talking about by context if you're rattling them off in a censored list.

[@r4yy28]

As a learner who had to go through the same thing i know how frustrating it is. So I've written them out for you やろう クソ クソヤロウ マンコ (vagina) チョン (slur for korean) Btw I agree. Plus, his target audience is probably not even Japanese, so he has no reason to censor these

[@amberwingthefairycat]

He’s probably afraid of his video or maybe even his channel demonetised or something, because it might be a different language but YT rules still apply

[@ringmuskel2289]

The mago word is a totally normal word for "lack" in German. I heard that someone once said it cause they lacked the Japanese word and didn't know any better

[@JJMcCullough]

Another great vid! Glad I discovered this channel!

[@Haankaas]

I found this video via your video! JJ, you always help out smaller channels, it's very noble of you.

[@JJMcCullough]

@@Haankaas I will always help out any channel that is good!

[@srboromir452]

My wife got most of these, she used to do fan translations several years back.

[@anguscarpenter5254]

Ok so I have to add my two cents here. I am an Australian learning Japanese from a group of very supportive friends who have parents who were born and raised in Japan. They also went to Japanese language schools and have a very good understanding of the language as a whole. To top this all off, they have exchange students from Japan coming into our school from time to time, so they are very well versed in even modern-day Japanese culture and usage of these words. From everything I have been told by them, the majority of the words used in a context that makes sense is completely fine by most Japanese speakers. Especially words like くそ (kuso) which even kids might say with their parents listening. As long as you don't do obviously bad things, for example call someone "くそやろう (kuso yarou)" these words definitely have their place and avoiding them is taking away from you an ability to express frustration in a way that sounds Japanese and not like English with Japanese words. Calling people 君 and お前 is obviously contextual, but the way FreeBird phrases how he talks about it may push people away from using them, when people calling each other 君 etc. is not really all that uncommon especially among male teenagers -> teenagers which is a large part of this audience. I am definitely not perfect in my understanding of these concepts, but my own experiences living in a place where lots of Japanese students and tourists come in, (for example a 22 year old stranger calling me お前, a 30 year old stranger calling me 君) and my knowledge gifted to me by my friends, the presentation of the hurt caused by あなた, 君, くそ, ちくしょう, and some other words presented is simply not accurate and needs review. For any learners interested in more information, find articles written by Japanese people who write about realistic everyday Japanese, or Japanese youtubers. These provide the most accurate information out of all the online resources. Thanks for reading.

[@anguscarpenter5254]

Adding, no-one says てめえ like ever that's basically just in anime most angry people will just use お前 with disrespectful language.

[@anguscarpenter5254]

Bro it's getting worse the more I watch. If you get a bad grade on a test and your turn to your friend and go "あああ死にたいよ～" they're gonna go haha. If you say "あああ殺して" they're gonna go haha. It's only when you say something more serious like "マジで殺してくれ" that people might think you're insane.

[@Draconic_Aura]

that is because curse words are shifting from disgust-based words to slurs, same in Japan, kuso is fine but mango or phone aren't

[@eresoup7229]

@@anguscarpenter5254ikr? He feels a bit extreme in his perception of what is or isnt ok, to an immense and immature degree even. Cant he just say manko? Why does he need to say ‘word that rhymes with mango’ etc? Its ridiculous

[@blasianking4827]

I definitely agree, and to anyone who's unsure, just ask your Japanese friend(s) what language they're comfortable with so you're not stuck playing a guessing game and tip toeing around certain words.

[@13wayz70]

i believe that learn it and lock it up is the best way to go with offensive language, its important to know what to avoid. so thank you for your insight

[@Tiger8566]

The white screen the Japanese text appears on made me think my monitor was super dirty lol

[@mfaizsyahmi]

Came for "temee~!", stayed for Cirno. Anyway, what English natives have to tattoo onto their gray matter is that in other languages there are different registers for words that are expressed the same way in English because English had lost them. Saying "You" = "anata" is skipping a few steps. You must ask first "in which context are you going to be addressing the person?" Also, there's rarely ever a 1:1 word translation. "What is your name?" translated word to word sounds very alien in Japanese.

[@ritz47]

クソ and バカ are used pretty commonly in casual conversation, when paired with other words. For example, 今日、クソ暑いね、マジで死にそう！ or え？２万円？バカ高いやん！ which just emphasise the adjective in a way that expresses your emotion about the situation. クソ also gets used a fair amount as an expletive when making a mistake or being annoyed, but said to oneself, maybe when you drop your phone and the screen cracks, or when injuring yourself.

[@jamm6_514]

sounds like the way some portuguese expletives are used in brazil and also similar to how fuck is used

[@BLKWIDOWX]

I’ve heard ‘お前’ so many times before street fights in yakuza it taught me EVERYTHING I needed to know abt that word 😅

[@BrianM_3rd]

I know there's also a bunch of words you can't say on television specifically. I can never remember what it is, but there's a word for like "lunatic" or "crazy person" that I recall being expressly forbidden as incredibly offensive.

[@mnnnzz]

thank you for your videos! for me personally the realization that the world of foreign languages is so large and complex is scary, but very inspiring. best hobby ever

[@Artdeepmind]

"kisama namae wa" I remember this one from the movie Ip Man, never forgot it :D

[@XiaosChannel]

21:41 You don't need to tell them you are a beginner because they will assume it automatically, whether you want it or not. I got N1 before I got here, I'm in my 9th year, worked in 3 predominantly Japanese companies, well on my way to permanent residency, but sometimes Japanese people still ignore what I say because I am a foreigner. In a sense it's worse for white people because you are more visible, whereas I can basically pass as a Japanese unless it's a long conversation. When you are starting out in Japan, it's only natural to think everything went wrong is your fault, because you know so little. The reality is Japan selects for a particular kind of personality, some people will feel they're right at home, others find it hell. I learned to isolate myself from all the unreasonable things I had to face as a foreigner and live my own life.

[@blanc9534]

Offensive words in Japan: you, YOU, yOU, BAKA, and yoU

[@naddical]

I’m doing a study abroad program in March, so having this kind of thing is very helpful. I wish I had Japanese friends or a teacher, though

[@davidsauer637]

Im here from jj's vid, keep up the good work man your stuff is too informative and good to be missed out❤

[@crazguykwan8955]

Very comprehensive list! It's interesting to see how words that used to have great value or politeness be used as curse words. It really reflects cultural changes in Japan. Might be a form of neo-historicism. For the word 死ね it is pronounced "shine". 死んで "shinde" is the textbook te-form that foreigners will learn before the imperative form (the one that is actually said as a curse) As for the mango-sounding word that means "vagina", it actually is pronounced まんこ "manko", with the "a" sounding like "ah". 下 "shita" or あそこ "asoko" are nicer alternatives. チョン "chon" the slur for Korean person comes from a unit of their money "jeon" which is 1/100 of their won.

[@washitokusei6801]

I don't think anyone ever anywhere politely requested someone to drop dead by saying "shinde kudasai" 🤭

[@Simred69]

cringing every time you say aNAta

[@francheeze1]

its hard to switch between languages, i think he knows the correct pronunciation, but he doesnt wnat to stop to pronounce it correctly

[@juicyboxesxo]

i reacted too... i thought it was intentional 😭

[@AlmondShinShap]

Teaching you the correct pronunciation would do the opposite of the point of this video. Cringe as you want, switching between languages is hard

[@eresoup7229]

@@AlmondShinShapno it isnt lol

[@kresb]

That's why knowing another language besides English can make things much easier. I understand how "あなた" can be offensive since I know how "ти" can be in Ukrainian.

[@9berta]

11:37 as japanese, this phrase is wrong but funny

[@sdsddai]

ちょっとおもしろすぎるwwww 「お前、何してんだよ。この変態やろう」が正しいですね。

[@Tulsy_Grape]

I don't know if I'm just well read or what, but I did know all but one of these. Didn't know the South Korean slur, not gonna use it. However, I did want to add one word I recently accidentally said. Shojo. Not shoujo, but shojo. All I did was say the mora a bit too quickly, and my Japanese GF got immediately upset, to my surprise. She then explained what literally dropping a syllable makes the word, and then I understood her anger. Also, side note. My Japanese brother in law has Tourette's. And being that he is Japanese and only speaks Japanese, he uses literally all of the most horrible words in Japanese, so I ended up being constantly exposed to these words on a daily basis when I visited him and his family. Every few seconds he screams "マンコ飲みたい" and "死ね". Let me tell ya, that was extremely jarring to hear at first, especially because I knew the meanings. Also, I accidentally taught him "Fuck" and he added it to his repertoire...woops.

[@scroptels]

that last part was very nice, i'm a very paranoid person who is always worried about what people think of me, I don't forget when i make a mistake and punish myself a lot for it to an unhealthy degree, so it was pretty demotivating when i try to speak to someone in japanese and make even the most innofensive mistake, i feel really bad and don't want to repeat that again. This is why i stopped really learning japanese a many years ago when i was teaching myself (as i've done with other skills), obviosuly without the guidance of someone i won't be able to learn this, but it kinda eases my mind hearing it's part of the process of learning. Maybe i can try picking it up again soon, i hve many reasons to learn japanese and i want to connect with japanese people, i have always appreciated their culture from afar.

[@FreeBirdJPYT]

@@scroptels it’s worth getting back into, I’ve been there before. I had a time when I was so lonely and miserable in Japan, that I completely gave up on the country and learning about it, at least that was until I made some close friends and rediscovered my love for Japan. There will always be people who will understand you, no matter where you are in the world, but in some places, it’s harder to find them. Try your best, be yourself, make mistakes and learn from them. I know how hard it can be, I’ve been there, and I felt it, but the more you learn the more interesting life is and things do get better

[@scroptels]

@@FreeBirdJPYT thanks a lot for the reply and for the kid words of encouragement, happy to hear you found a home in japan too, don't really have experience traveling but i get what you mean, as you say there's always someone out there who will connect with you. The world it's always full of new and exciting things that make life worth living.

[@telemkam]

I only have one person who's Japanese who I try to speak with, and since my language learning is still very early, outright asked "　’あなた’は 大丈夫?” Only cuz using it is more natural for an English speaker than not. He was perfectly fine with it thankfully!

[@DarrylCross]

Also another reason to learn the insulting/offensive speech in any target language is so that you understand when the native speakers are really badmouthing you vs. when you're just being paranoid. Once you master the intricacies of offensive language, you can be much better at gauging the attitudes toward you and put any anxieties to rest, or at least know when situations have become somewhat hostile and disengage from them. Like that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine is sure the people at the Korean beauty parlor are trash talking her, but she can't really call them out because she doesn't know Korean. Or that scene from the Takeshi Kitano film Brother, where his character is momentarily left alone in a room with members of another gang during negotiations. He didn't know much English at that time, so the other gang felt free to speak openly in front of him but he did understand when they were calling him "fucking Jap."

[@yuzuruizumieggy]

Okay, as a Kansai person We tend to use あんた as it feels more natural to our senses. Plus, it more casual than あなた. So if you travel somewhere in the Kansai region and use that term, we won't get ya beat up for it. More or less, we'll be surprised that you actually have that vibe.

[@linklink3069]

I find it very interesting how your pronounciation of a word changes when you say it in an english sentence vs when you say it in a japanese context. I've noticed myself doing that when saying one english word in a greek sentence.

[@RedGamer321]

fun fact, as a learner of both Chinese and Japanese,, the cultural differences have been astounding. I know more about Japanese but end up being more reserved when speaking, whereas I know less Chinese but am more confident. Chinese strangers have *gone out of their way* to teach me, somebody they KNOW IS AMERICAN, how to swear in Chinese.......

[@lordbarron3352]

No offense intended but you look like the quintessential foreigner. If you wore clogs and a bucket hat I would allow you in my dock town. 10/10.

[@FreeBirdJPYT]

@@lordbarron3352 I wear a bucket hat sometimes, so I’m halfway there

[@no.7893]

Having played half of the yakuza games whilst learning Japanese certainly hasn’t done any good for my Japanese politeness, and then I watched Kaname Naitos video about delinquent language and got the phrase おいコラ、ざけんじゃねぞ　stuck in my head 😭

[@shugyosha7924]

I kept calling a girl anta thinking it was a casual way to say anata (and not even knowing anata was rude) and on the second or third use she stopped me to tell me not to say anta. Lol

[@Joseph_417]

What a nice video to watch in a hotel room in LA at 8:30 at night (Also congrats on basically 3k subs)

[@FreeBirdJPYT]

@@Joseph_417 the videos not scary, it’s just the thumbnail that looks grave. And thank you ☺️☺️

[@alexandercochran4013]

I was once talking to someone on hello talk, but I was using a translate app and then speaking the words so I could get better at pronunciation. We were talking about bars and she said she didn’t like to drink and I was thinking of a joke, so I thought to say “I’m sorry for your lose” (I didn’t know how taboo death was in Japan) and the translation of that came back as go-shu-sho-sama-desu ご愁傷様です She told me in english “That is the worst word” blocked me, and made a whole post about rude foreigners… Atleast I know i pronounced it correctly 😂

[@LeafylsntHere]

been loving the content, hope you reach 3k soon!!

[@Octane_au]

3.04k 👏👏👏

[@BadContentCreator193]

11:01 彼は自分を犬か何かだと思っていたのだろうか？

[@soulninja7606]

The not using し for 四 is interesting to me, because my teacher always taught us よん when used with counter words (unless it had to use よっ or し), but counted with し when she counted without counter-words. I always asumed that was the rule and used し when counting... I guess I should learn to use よん in all contexts where I can, or is this not a huge deal?

[@ThatAwesomeGuyGaming]

"I think you should learn all the offensive words, and then never use them" proceeds to not teach all the actually offensive words. And pronounces most of the words incorrectly to boot.

[@FreeBirdJPYT]

@@ThatAwesomeGuyGaming ok “ThatAwesomeGuyGaming” 💀💀

[@samagraarohan2513]

​@@FreeBirdJPYT I think the video is helpful, but I don't see what you're getting at? they raise a valid point, even if their username is somehow funny to you

[@aidenorsomething4002]

No use just commenting and backing away like that, in my opinion. If you could share what you know with us here in the comments it would be much more beneficial to everyone. Edit: Also commenting on people’s pronunciation is still a thing huh? Language is for communication.

[@frickermints]

I work at a japanese company and use 修正 on almost a daily basis, so when I saw it in the thumbnail for this video I was so worried I had been using some vulgar expression and nobody had corrected me yet hahaha

[@IERServer]

When you mentioned Aho being less insulting than baka, I widened my eyes because that's much more offensive from what I've seen; but then, you mentioned that that is indeed the case but in the Kanto region rather than the Kansai region, and I got it. I've been learning Tokyo Japanese so. Also, What you mentioned about "lowering yourself" and mentioning you're still learning the local language when you meet someone for the first time is so important. I speak English very fast but I tend to get a bit nervous when speaking with an actual native English speaker (English isn't my first language), so I always tend to say "Sorry, English is not my first language." when I meet someone new. Thank goodness every person I met has replied with "Oh don't worry. Go on." PS: Nice Cirno in the corner!

[@tomcrowell6697]

I learned German profanity and accidently spoke it to my teacher..... he didn't hear me but my friend's girlfriend from Germany heard it and was in awe at how fluent I was. In her mind it was like indirectly flirting. I had to buy them beers adterward and it got more awkward but was still fun. Lol

[@thematthew761]

Found this from JJ! Great channel from what I’ve seen

[@FreeBirdJPYT]

@@thematthew761 I appreciate this a lot, thank you 🥺🥺

[@thematthew761]

@@FreeBirdJPYT I always found Japanese culture fascinating and when I found this vid from JJ, I was surprised the video and channel weren’t bigger

[@mewmewkissycutie1028]

I remember one time I was in Hokkaido and there was a sign for Foreigner cemetery (外人墓場). Probably the funniest sign I've seen

[@FreeBirdJPYT]

this sounds crazy.

[@evie5402]

Keep up with the videos, they’re great! Can’t wait to be able to say I was 1 of the first 4k subs years down the line

[@snowcloudshinobi]

very informative and your anecdotes are fun to listen to. hoping this video does as well as your strange kana one and i'd love to see more.

[@jittercatgd]

as a japanese learner: thamk you

[@Oh_DeER_1_1o1_1]

So, that meme “what, doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” “what!?” Is way heavier in Japanese that its translation. In Spanish is the oposite, if you want to be offensive you take away the pronoun or the direct mention, and use infinitives: it feel as being treated as an object or insect -“Lo que no le mata le fortalece” -“¿¡qué!?”

[@atomics6397]

Finally a new video, gj on the recent growth

[@cirnoIRL]

cirno mentioned bottom left ᗜˬᗜ

[@lucasggs-ptenjp]

Hey man, I've been really enjoying the content, as a fellow Japanese learner, your advices are much appreciated 👍. Keep it up!

[@FreeBirdJPYT]

@@lucasggs-ptenjp thanks, I super appreciate it 🙏

[@washitokusei6801]

A good way to stay safe is to absolutely absorb Filthy Frank's lessons and then do the exact opposite 😁

[@atomicdancer]

So you won't even say offensive words in a video that's about offensive vocabulary? Huh! This guy is a total Delicate Zone!

[@thedarkenigma3834]

😂

[@WildStar2002]

I kept trying to wipe the dust offa my screen, but it's part of the video, lol! 😂

[@user-ym7hb9io1k]

god this reminded of this one time i called a guy 君 in a message (i'm a girl and we both were like 15-16, i had just started learning japanese), this is one of those awkward moments that keeps me up at night 😭

[@Arviragus13]

Make $1 tier and a $100 tier, no in between

[@XiaosChannel]

It's definitely something you need real life experience, how to talk to japanese people. it's way beyond the language itself. all the media, be it anime, manga or tv shows, without the real life experience, you miss a lot of the signals sent. for example, anime speech is often exaggerated to highlight character personalities, so japanese people who know what is normal will catch the signal, wheas if you never lived in japan, you could take what the characters say as normal and start to sound like them. but it's not something I would stress too much since people are reasonable to you when you are a foreigner, for beginners and intermediates specially. though the other side of the coin is when you get to advanced... see my other comment

[@iNsOmNiAcAnDrEw]

2 things: I was not aware that older men called younger men 'kimi'. But I think I can explain why kimi is preferred to be said from older men to younger men rather than the other way around. It's their way of expressing they think of the other person as a 'prince' like how in our culture we may call some 'adorable girl' a princess... it would be disrespectful to call someone older and with more authority prince perhaps just because then it's like who is the 'king' in this situation? Must be the man calling the other one a prince... but kimi can be used in other contexts too, such as a service worker may call a customer kimi if that service worker is female then I guess because of the patriarchy, there is no negative connotation coming from someone of the opposite sex. Oh I forgot about kisama, it's so similar to kimi, I think that was actually the word someone used to me. Haha, my memory is not so good.

[@undeadc0de199]

OK so my wife and her family not living in Kanto or the Kansai region are built completely different.😂

[@ChoBear]

glad your teaching us learners the actual meanings behind these words, congrats on 3k subs :D !

[@GustafUNL]

It took me until right before 21:49 to understand why the thumbnail is what it is.

[@t111ran3]

I wouldn't call the usage of 君 you described as pop culture 😂 Their anthem is 君が代 I feel like it'd be better described as a language reserved to poetry. Also 死ぬ it's a go-to word of mine to describe my condition in current summer 🫠. My coworker called me "Japanese" when I said that, funnily enough Loved the video!

[@Orianna_Bumssen321]

I thought Omae is the rude one and Anata is the polite one

[@nickiminaj0882]

Not me mixing up onamae and omae💀

[@Okami_gris]

"What's your name🙂" "What are you💀"

[@TimMaxShift]

Thanks for the video, sure, for the effort you put into it but.... First you say you'll say the words so we know them and don't use them, and then you censor everything and say nothing at all. Then you could have limited yourself to one phrase: google it all yourself, there are words you can't say in Japanese society too. Anyone who has been learning Japanese for a couple months knows about the indecency of using the pronoun “you”. People definitely didn't click on this video for such basic things.

[@izuzuzmi]

I’m so happy I know that now 😭

[@slicer2938]

'Huh?' in english is also pretty disrespectful but depends wildly on how its pronounced. idk if its because im not american but australian but it seems rude, usually you should say "excuse me, what'd you say?' or if your using huh as in shock to news or something ill often here like 'really?'.

[@thedarkenigma3834]

'What?' is also used here in the US and is sometimes interpreted to be disrespectful.

[@tempus1232]

"Haa" for me is more like saying "what the f*ck are you saying" And another expression "yo" shouldnt be used carelessly cuz putting it at the end means your stating an obvious fact. If you use this all the time you'd sound like a jerk "Yaru" is so used, i hoped that youve atleast discussed this.

[@Koazhan]

Even though I don't wanna learn Japanese and focus on other languages, This is still a great video to watch

[@Mnogojazyk]

What about だめ? I don’t think it’s terribly bad, but its use might disturb some people.

[@daruyamada6097]

Unless you use it like だめな男 or something it might but otherwise it will sound a bit childish or used towards kids in general. It’s very much a word used by japanese mothers and school teachers. It has it’s uses like 「駄目だ。」which is like a frustrated “it’s over” or “it’s no use/there is no point” which is basically like giving up on something. Not technically a rude word/phrase but definitely not a frequent phrase if you are at a working age lol.

[@Mnogojazyk]

@@daruyamada6097, thanks for the explanation.

[@iNsOmNiAcAnDrEw]

Similar to my comment about 'kimi', I suppose the reason omae must be frowned upon as used by younger people must go towards the original meaning of the word. What's in 'front' is truly a matter of perspective, after all isn't it? Which means the people with authority would consider people that are in front of them to be omae while if one of those people say omae it's like rearranging who is the focus which I can see why that could be disrespectful or even be interpreted as a sign of no loyalty or something like that.

[@ragerteenager968]

I've heard women say 君, but in dramas. The best example that comes to mind is Cherry Magic, one of ML's superiors calls him 君 because she doesn't know his name. Maybe it has something to do with the age difference and her work position?

[@EddySteel]

Does anyone know a good, natural way of saying something to the effect of "sorry if I say anything inappropriate, I'm still learning and don't mean anything by it" etc?

[@FreeBirdJPYT]

@@EddySteel I’m not sure if this is 100% correct grammar, but usually what I say upon meeting someone for the first time is 「変なことを話すと、教えてください」 which roughly translates to “if I say anything strange, please tell me.”

[@EddySteel]

@@FreeBirdJPYT thank you so much! In text messages I've said stuff like "Xはインフォーマル過ぎますか？", that's really helpful.

[@Ayelet.M]

I heard あんた　also as an endearment, like between a married couple or something in that context. Or is it old fashioned?