4

I recently started learning Japanese before my friend suggested I try out this cool app that lets me meet people from Japan to talk to.

I get a lot of japanese messages and in some requests the first word I notice is 「フーホり」. I looked it up in my Japanese dictionary but nothing pops up. If anyone know, please tell me.

Thank you.

Improve this question
6
  • 3
    「ワーホリ」じゃなくて「フーホリ」? Edit: ameblo.jp/moedas/entry-12026252763.html They say it's 夫婦でワーホリ...
    – chocolate ♦
    Commented Jan 16, 2016 at 2:33
  • 1
    Maybe it has something to do with encoding problems (like this one)? An anonymized screenshot might help.
    – naruto
    Commented Jan 16, 2016 at 3:33
  • I'm with naruto on this one. That word has no meaning to me nor does it turn up anything with a Google search or a dictionary run, so I'm thinking it's an encoding issue.
    – Pleiades
    Commented Jan 16, 2016 at 5:03
  • 1
    I think naruto's theory is attractive, but choco's one is more probable. Make it sure you weren't confused among those letters: michaelhaldane.com/Hiragana%20and%20Katakana%20Tips.htm
    – broccoli forest
    Commented Jan 16, 2016 at 7:09
  • OP said this "word" was seen in some requests by random Japanese people. I can hardly believe there were many Japanese people who used ワーホリ to a Japanese beginner. We really need some screenshot.
    – naruto
    Commented Jan 18, 2016 at 7:19

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

Probably ワーホリ which is short for ワーキング・ホリデー (working holiday) which is a type of visa that allows the person to be in the country and work for about 1 year.

As a bonus bit of trivia: Usually you are only eligible for that kind of visa before you are 30 years old, so when someone who is 30 gets a working holiday visa because it is their last chance they call it ギリホリ which is short for ギリギリでワーホリのビザを取った (only just got a working holiday visa in the nick of time).

Some Japanese people who like the idea of living overseas spend their entire 20s going from country to country on working holiday visas. Usually England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America.

Improve this answer
2
  • What would be the chances of someone typing HU or FU by mistake when s/he meant to type WA?
    – user4032
    Commented Jan 16, 2016 at 15:48
  • 5
    @l'électeur: Much lower than the chances of someone reading ワ as フ by mistake, I guess.
    – Tsuyoshi Ito
    Commented Jan 16, 2016 at 20:55

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .