28
votes
Accepted
Is the word 「やんな」positive or negative?
The particle な indeed has both meanings: "Don't do ~" and "Do ~". From デジタル大辞泉:
1 動詞・動詞型助動詞の終止形、ラ変型活用語の連体形に付く。禁止の意を表す。「油断する―」「まだ帰る―」「かの尼君などの聞かむに、おどろおどろしく言ふ―」〈源・夕顔〉
2 《補助動詞「なさる」...
26
votes
Accepted
Why is the て-form being used before ん?
誰探してんの is a contracted form of 誰探してるの, which in turn is a contracted form of 誰(を)探しているの ("Who are you looking for?", notice the progressive form). More generally:
ている contracts to てる. (See ...
18
votes
Accepted
Why can だって have so many meanings?
1 and 2 are conjunctive だって used at the beginning of a sentence.
買わなかったよ。だって、高かったんだ。
I didn't buy it. [After all / Because] it was expensive.
「買えって言ったでしょう?」「だって、高かったんだ。」
"Didn't I tell you ...
15
votes
Accepted
Meaning of ちはース
This is just "Hi".
こんちゃ/こんちわ/ちわ/ちは/etc is a very casual version of こんにちは. Of course this は is pronounced "wa".
For "ーす", see: What does っす at the end of a sentence mean?
Jisho.org also has an entry ...
10
votes
What does じゃな mean?
Like @himself noted, it does mean 葉人をつかまえたんだな. While some dialects do have this change, more importantly it's used to characterise the speaker as a stereotypical wise old male (usually in anime or ...
10
votes
Accepted
How to say "Ok, then I take X" after your first choice is not available
For casual, which is acceptable as a client I would go with
じゃあ、カレーにします。
If you want to be more polite then
それなら、カレーにします。
じゃあ means : then; well; so; well then
それなら means : if that's the ...
10
votes
Accepted
Omission of く in negative form of い-adjective
There are at least three types of omission of く, which should be distinguished.
The "traditional western" euphoric change is called ウ音便 and is described in this question, this one and a chart in this ...
10
votes
Accepted
What does the letter 'P' at the end of an author's pseudonym mean?
That P (simply read ピー) stands for プロデューサー ("Producer"). Traditionally, P has been used like a name suffix for a super-high executive in the showbiz/broadcasting/anime industry (someone even ...
10
votes
What is the informal equivalent of いいえ
いえ is definitely used informally for いいえ, though it's not super casual. More casual options include いや, ううん, or 違う. That being said, you don't necessarily need a word that means 'no'; you can reply to ...
10
votes
What is the non-slurred version for 叫んどんねん? 叫んでおらない?
叫んどんねん is short for 叫んどるねん, which is short for 叫んでおるねん, which is 叫んでいるんだ(よ) said in Osaka-ben. There is no negation.
おる is used instead of いる in many western dialects to denote progressive aspect. ...
9
votes
Accepted
What does the word 「っぴい」 mean?
~っぴ/~っち is a sort of "suffix" which generates cute-sounding nicknames. Think of it as an rough equivalent of -ie as in doggie, walkie-talkie, etc.
へたっぴ (下手【へた】 + っぴ, clumsy person)
けろけろけろっぴ (けろけろ + ...
9
votes
Use of さ as a filler
First, your example, 私さスタバへさ行ったさ, sounds funny because:
行った is a 終止形, so attaching a filler after it sounds weird. True sentence-end さ exists, but it has a different function and tone. さ in 行ってさ ...
9
votes
Accepted
What is the role of というか at the beginning of sentence?
というか
っていうか
ってか, てか
とゆーか, とゆうか, とゆっか
ってゆーか, ってゆうか, ってゆっか
ちゅーか, ちゅうか
つーか, つうか, っつうか
つか, っつか
These are all variants of というか. They have many roles.
Used to make the sentence less certain: "kind of&...
9
votes
Accepted
What does the word 「かまっちって」mean?
かまっち is just the name of a monster in DQ9 (かま is 鎌, and -っち is a kind of suffix). って is a colloquial version of という.
かまっちって魔物
monster called Kamatchi
8
votes
Accepted
What does てくんない ending on a verb mean?
This is an abbreviated form of 〜てくれない, meaning "to not do 〜 for me". So 貸してくれない means "won't lend me", but phrased as a question like this (likely with a rising intonation) mean "Hey Maruo, won't you ...
8
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between 自転車 and チャリ?
To refer to bicycles:
自転車: The formal word for bicycles. It includes so-called 電動自転車 (electric-assisted bicycles), but does not include motorcycles with petrol-powered engines.
チャリ: A common slang ...
8
votes
Accepted
What does the phrase 「~てしんぜよう」 mean?
てしんぜよう means "I'll do you a favor", and it is a stereotypical phrase associated with samurais. Generally, it gives an arrogant impression (or, at least it signals that the speaker genuinely ...
7
votes
What nuance does っち give in "暑っちぃ”?
In this particular case, I agree with Shoko's assessment that it is just bending the rules of 送り仮名 for effect, and not the suffix 〜っちい. (Maybe she will elaborate on that in a full answer.)
〜っちい as a ...
7
votes
Accepted
Meaning and usage of 運のツキ
運のツキ literally means "to have run out of luck". The ツキ refers to 尽き which means "to come to an end" (source). It means that one's good luck or fortune is over, i.e. no more good things can happen ...
7
votes
Accepted
What does the 「たあ」 do in this sentence?
It is a sound change of "とは". It may be used in old city(下町 in Japanese) in Tokyo.
7
votes
Accepted
rationale of するんじゃない as informal negative imperative
Obviously it's not grammatical imperative, but the construction functions as order when used by somebody's betters (senior, superior etc.) to strongly admonish them. If I can ignore context, "You don'...
7
votes
Why do people say 'Iru?' alone?
いる? is a colloquial way of asking "Want some?" (or "You there?"). Of course colloquial speech is free to break the usual grammar rules, but even in standard Japanese grammar both object and subject ...
7
votes
What does the word 「まかせとき」mean?
まかせとき!
I think it's Kansai-ben pronunciation for [任]{まか}せておけ / 任せとけ.
Here in Kyoto/Osaka, we often say things like...
「まかしとき(ー)」 or 「まかせとき(ー)」 for 「任せておけ」
「おいとき(ー)」 for 「置いておけ」
「やめとき(ー)」 for 「...
7
votes
Accepted
Is 'うつさい' equivalent to 'うるさい' in this context? Why?
It's 'うっさい' in this context and it's a colloquial style of 'うるさい'.
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