Here is the conversation that includes the word.
A: そんな つめてえこといわないで...
ひと目{め}でいいんスよ ほんのちょいとあうだけでいいんだからB: だめっていったら だめーっ
And I'm curious why the syllable 「ス」 in the word has to be written in katakana?
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It's a n informal contraction of です. First time I came into contact with it was playing Final Fantasy X all those years ago (in which it's used extensively by Tidus).– sqrtbottleCommented Jul 2, 2015 at 6:54
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Related: japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/36– user1478Commented Jul 2, 2015 at 7:49
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1 Answer
ス in this case is a colloquial shortening of です.
I think the reason people write it with Katakana is that it makes it easier to tell that's a new word rather than んす being a typographical error for something else.
If you look for っす you can find entries that explain that this is a [丁寧]{ていねい} colloquialism (http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%A3%E3%81%99). Our fearless moderator points out that the small-つ is probably avoided due to "superheavy syllable" it creates.
I decode the sentences as follows:
A: そんな冷たいことを言わないで、一目でいいんですよ。
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<A: そのような冷たいことを言わないで、一目でいいんですよ。> might be marginally better. Oh BTW.. <I'm trying to find a Japanese source about the ス> Is that worth pursuing? As long as your guess is correct, you don't necessarily have to locate any "evidence" for a mere colloquialism. Commented Jul 2, 2015 at 7:49
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2I don't think whether it's a colloquialism makes any difference in terms of documentability. @virmaior I think it's often ッス, but っ is avoided after ん because it creates a superheavy syllable. You might try searching for っす or ッス instead.– user1478Commented Jul 2, 2015 at 7:54
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@eltonjohn as an answerer (and for my own sake as a non-native speaker), I like to source things just as good practice -- in case the OP wants to confirm or understand further how something works.– virmaiorCommented Jul 2, 2015 at 8:14
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@virmaior: <I like to source things just as good practice> Alright, I got it. Please understand that I did not intend to discourage your inquiring mind. Commented Jul 2, 2015 at 12:17