I found this chapter title quite confusing:
サブライターがメインに昇格した二作目って大抵(ry
which I understand to mean something like:
A second work made by a sub writer who became the main writer? Seems mediocre.
I don't know what the (ry
means though.
Japanese Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityIt is internet slang that is used to indicate that the rest of the sentence has been omitted for one reason or another, usually to some comedic effect. The answer is explained in detail on this site:
http://imimatome.com/netyogonoimi/ry.html
If the site is forbidden, try viewing a cached version.
最後までハッキリと言わない時に使う、謙虚なネット用語です(違 ハッキリ言わない方が面白いことがあったり、感情を表現できたりします。
This is basically as I said above: sometimes it's more humorous or effective not to say everything. It should be read as 略{りゃく}, and the "ry" comes from "ryaku."
Rather than venture to create my own examples, I'll borrow from the site again:
A「おい、聞いてくれ!昨日吉野家いったんです。 そしたらなんか、家族連れで賑わってるんです。 よくみたら(ry」
B「さ、最後まで言えよっ!w」
というような意味がわからない略の仕方をしたり、
「それって結婚詐(ry」と 明らかに略した言葉がわかる使い方をしたり、いろいろあります。
In your example, the person is suggesting that the second work by a secondary writer is usually a bit... yeah. You got the point I think. It's saying that the works aren't as good without saying that the works aren't as good, and it's using this little bit of slang to call attention to the act of omission.
A good English analogue might be yada yada.