Tell me more ×
Japanese Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 3 down vote favorite

My friend recently played through a game called Persona 4, and he took plenty of screen shots. He showed me this one containing 死す:

Dialogue spoken by 巽　完二　「言っとくがなぁ…　可愛すぎてキュン死すっぞ！」

It says:

巽　完二
「言っとくがなぁ…
　可愛すぎてキュン死すっぞ！」

I understood it as 死 + す, a literary alternative to 死ぬ. I have to admit, though, it doesn't sound very literary to me in this context. 完二 is a tough guy, and he uses lots of verbal forms like 言っとく, so I'm guessing I misunderstood.

To sum up my question, I'm wondering why it was appropriate to say 死す here.

share|improve this question
It looks to me to be キュン死 + すっぞ(=するぞ→すんぞ→すっぞ), キュン死 being a slang word meaning "death from a heart pang caused by seeing something cute". ("death by d'awwing"?) There's so much to this question that I doubt I could just post that and call it an answer, though. Not really sure what to do here. – Hyperworm Jan 20 at 18:57
@Hyperworm Ah, I was afraid I might have asked the wrong question due to my lack of understanding. Maybe I should edit the question? – snailboat♦ Jan 20 at 19:00
@Hyperworm I tried to pare it down so there isn't "so much to this question" anymore. Sorry about that! – snailboat♦ Jan 20 at 19:04
You had the right attitude approaching the question :D OK, since you've edited, I've tried to turn my comment into a better-formatted answer. – Hyperworm Jan 20 at 19:11

1 Answer

up vote 8 down vote accepted

Rather than 死す (which I believe you are right in saying is literary), this is a slang suru-verb キュン死 meaning "death from a heart pang caused by seeing something cute".

(Possible English translations: "death by d'awwing", "death from cuteness overdose/overload"?)

The すっぞ comes from rough speech slurring -- するぞ→すんぞ→すっぞ -- so it fits his character.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.