Japanese has few syllables, which is why many Japanese words are the same. This is usually not a problem thanks to the context. The big issue is the numerous meanings that are present in a single word. In today’s article, we will see some words that can confuse people. Words that even the Japanese themselves struggle to differentiate or explain, making Japanese vague.
We already know words that are the same with different meanings and ideograms. Take the example of the word Hashi, which can mean bridge, chopsticks, edge, and bank. Another example is the word Kami, which can mean God, Paper, or hair. We have already addressed this in the article words that are the same with completely different meanings. But today we will address words that are the same but can give the opposite sense of their meaning.
Words with vague and opposite meanings
This happens even with words we use in our daily lives, but we never stop to think about it. In Portuguese, this also happens when a person ends up offering something to us, and we say it’s okay or thank you; sometimes the person gets confused about whether we are accepting or not. The same thing happens in Japanese with the word daijoubu 大丈夫.
The word daijoubu means to be fine; it is usually used as a response after something bad happens. Just like thank you, you can use it to reject something that is offered to you, saying that everything is fine and you don’t need it.
Something similar happens with the word ii “いい”; in this case, it can be an abbreviation of 2 different words, 良い which means good and いいえ which means no. Suppose you invite someone to do something, and they respond sore wa ii – それはいい, it is more likely that you think they accepted, but it can happen that this いい means no.
Another example that confuses any Japanese student is the phrase それ好きかも (sore suki kamo); some people end up using this phrase to say they like someone. The big problem is that the word かも means possibly, maybe, could, or can. So does this mean they like the person or not?
Another quite vague response you might hear in Japanese is どっちでも (dotchidemo), which means either one or whatever. It may seem that the person does not care about the conversation or really does not want something.
Why is Japanese so vague?
Another confusing word is yabai, which can mean something good or bad; we wrote an article discussing this word, you can read it by clicking here. Another slang is the word Ukero, which means to receive or take, but young people use it to mean ridiculous or hilarious. These are just a few of the thousands of vague words that exist in Japanese. Paying attention and knowing the context is the best way to identify its meaning.
Japanese is full of vague expressions, and truly understanding the real meaning is not easy. Vague words prevent shy Japanese people from saying yes or no directly or clearly. Japanese people like to give vague answers to avoid hurting or saying something that is bad for another person; they also have difficulties expressing what they really think or their feelings. Perhaps this is one of the main reasons why Japanese has very vague words without a defined meaning.
This article was inspired by episode 9 of the drama Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo, which I highly recommend for those who are learning Japanese. What do you think about these vague and undefined words in the Japanese language? Can you understand their meaning?
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