Japanese has few syllables, so many Japanese words are the same. This isn't usually a problem thanks to the context. The big problem is the numerous meanings that are present in a single word. In today's article we are going to see some words that can make people confused. Words that not even the Japanese know how to differentiate or explain, making Japanese vague.
Words with the same meanings and different ideograms are already known. Take the example of the word Hashi which can mean bridge, chopsticks, edge, and shore. Another example is the word Kami which can mean God, Paper, or hair. We have already discussed this in the article words with the same spellings but completely different meanings. But today we will address the same words that can give the opposite sense of their meaning.
Table of Content
Words with vague and contrary meanings
This happens even with words we use in our daily lives, but we never stop to think about it. In Portuguese, it also happens when a person ends up offering something to us, and we say it's all right 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 being fine; it is often used as a response after something bad happens. Just like thank you, you can use it to decline something being offered to you, saying that everything is fine and you don't need that.
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 the head of any Japanese student is the phrase それ好きかも (sore suki kamo), some people end up using this phrase to say that they like someone. The big problem is that the word かも means possibly, maybe, could, or can. So does this mean that 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 like the person doesn't care about the conversation or really doesn't want something.
Why is Japanese so vague?
Another confusing word is yabai which can mean both something good and 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 grab, however, young people use it as 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 really understanding the true meaning is not easy. Vague words prevent shy Japanese 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 someone else, they also have difficulty expressing what they really think or their feelings. Perhaps this is one of the great reasons why Japanese have very vague words with no defined meaning.
This article was inspired by episode 9 of the dorama Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo, I highly recommend it for those who are learning Japanese. What do you think about these vague and indefinite words in the Japanese language? Can you understand their meanings?