A word or phrase, or exclamation, with no particular grammatical relation to a sentence.
5
votes
2answers
211 views
Where does「えっと」come from?
I wanted to describe that 「えっと」 was similar to "Ummm" in English when someone is trying to think about what they are going to say, but I wasn't even sure if that was correct. Is that just a ...
4
votes
3answers
202 views
What is an expression that means “of course!” as if suddenly realizing something?
I know that もちろん is often used to mean something like "of course (you may)" or even "naturally, ..." However, what would an equivalent expression be for "of course!", used as an interjection as a ...
4
votes
1answer
158 views
Can ま be used as an interjection to connote an indignant tone?
On occasion, I will hear ま being used in a way that seems to suggest the speaker is responding to something indignantly. Something like, "Well! If that's how you're going to act..." Are there any good ...
5
votes
1answer
259 views
How to invoke God/spirits in Japanese
No, this is not about any Buddhist chant or mantra that can be used to call forth Japanese gods or heavenly spirits, but rather about any specialized words or interjections that attract attention of ...
12
votes
1answer
180 views
Is こら a lot more rude than ほら?
From early on, I've used こら and ほら somewhat interchangeably. They both mean "hey!"
I picked them up from friends early on without without really having a sense of the difference.
Now, after some ...
5
votes
1answer
143 views
Meaning of ぎゃほ ?
What does the interjection ぎゃほ mean?
Context:
A: We are mentioned in (famous newspaper)
B: ぎゃほ！ かんどう＝＝＝＝３３３
Does it have the meaning of かんどう ? Or is it surprise, or something else?
11
votes
1answer
265 views
What is that thing yelled in Japanese when starting something?
When starting some activity, I've heard something like 'Se..inou... ' (I'm not sure what are the specific words for this). The context for this word I'd think is pretty much the same as when saying ...
25
votes
3answers
955 views
Usage of すみません (sumimasen) versus ごめんなさい (gomen'nasai)
There are several situations in which one of these words (phrases?) should be used but there's not usually a 1:1 mapping between any two languages.
Get somebody's permission. English: "excuse me", ...
9
votes
2answers
306 views
Is there a difference between ほんとう (hontō) and ほんとうに (hontō-ni) when used alone as interjection or question?
As the equivalent of Enlgish "Oh really?" / "Yes really." as lone utterances I seem to hear both "本当" (hontō) and "本当に" (hontō-ni) in Japanese - is there a difference?
It seems that hontō is a noun ...
