Here’s some Japanese for you that I recently learned. It’s slang, sort of. Actually it’s text message slang. I don’t even know most text message slang in English, except for WTF and LOL, which I don’t use anyway. But anyway, KY has a different meaning in Japanese than in English. KY means空気を読めない (pronunciation: kuuki wo yomenai) and it can be used to describe a person who is clueless about how to act in a certain situation.Literally translated, KY means “can’t read the atmosphere” but basically it means someone who acts inappropriately in a situation where the appropriate behavior should be obvious. Like if someone’s favorite pet just got hit by a car, and you make a dumb joke about roadkill. That is KY. Or if you’re at the opera / ballet and getting up every few minutes to go the washroom, loudly whispering, unwrapping candy, etc. That is KY. KY can also just mean being rude, but it implies an oblivious kind of rudeness.
If you’re serious about texting in Japanese or even reading Japanese blogs, one very useful character to remember is “笑” because it is the Japanese equivalent of “J/K” or “haha” and it indicates a type of sarcasm.
12 comments:
People also sometimes write (w) to mean warai or laugh/smile.
KY started about two or so years ago ... The brain child of one of the dime a dozen comedians.
It's not just text message slang, my students use it all the time, like if theY take a class photo and they all make a funny face except for one kid, he's KY. Or if someone says something unrelated to anything at all, KY.
I'm guilty of using it myself :) I like using obscure Japanese to make the kids laugh. (I just started picking up phrases from old samurai dramas ... People love it when I speak yankee samurai Japanese ha)
People in my former office used KY all the time... It was a pretty laid-back office environment. The owner wore a track suit or graphic t-shirts everyday for some reason. We all used rather informal Japanese when not on the phone. It's also at the same time a very big, powerful temp-staff company for hospitals and nursing homes. I sat beside the boss, and it was so funny to watch random salespeople or potential employees come in to see him, wearing suits, bowing compulsively, breaking a sweat and stuttering when they just couldn't figure him out...This guy with all the power wearing a surfing t-shirt, talking slang. When they left the room, everyone looked at each other and giggled. "KY..." It happens a lot in offices. I think the expression has been around for a while but I might be mistaken...I heard about it in university about 4 years ago.
What the heck does this mean in a text message : [チェリー] I've received that a couple times from someone (also a girl), and in french this means cherie, like my dear. But I doubt she's calling me that.
k.
i love KY. i never even try to resist using it in english.
Hi Julie!
I love using KY too! People always wonder where I learned it though.
I remember that you've written a few posts on Aoi Yu (who I also love!) I've just started a blog, and my first post is about a couple of Aoi Yu films, Ototo and Honey and Clover. If you have the chance, please stop by!
www.edonohibi.wordpress.com
“KY” had another meaning when Mr.Aso was Primeminister a year ago. In this situation, “KY” stood for 漢字読めない“Kanji Yomenai ” (can’t read Kanji). Japanese people used to make light of his Kanji ability.
I've made a mistake. Inability to read Kanji is correct. I mean, Ex-Japanese Prime Minister was not good at reading Kanji.
that izumo soba is the prettiest dish i think ive seen! it looks like a little galaxy!
i messed around with my pedal board and made this ambient effect and then wrote a simple song with my looper and uploaded it to you tube. its redundant but its something =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBLo3x2hZ7Q
stranger danger!
love from brandon
I use KY all the time as well. I really like the concept. I find that without KY sometimes there is just too much friction. People are too uptight. Of course, some people like it that way. Still, in my opinion, it is the best way to get to the bottom of any situation.
BTW, nice blog. I find it very informative.
I've noticed a lot that when you post about food recommendation or stuff like that, you mention a lot the calories.
Are you vegetarian only because of beign thin or what is your reason?
I've noticed a lot that when you post about food recommendation or stuff like that, you mention a lot the calories.
Are you vegetarian only because of beign thin or what is your reason?
Haha, no. Do you think that being a vegetarian can make you thin? A lot of people think so, and I hope more people turn vegan just because they believe that. But it's a lie. You can still be FAT even if you give up meat.
Vegetarians and vegans aren't usually any skinnier than anyone else. In fact, about half of the vegans I've met in my life have been fat.
Vegetarians can still eat cake, every kind of candy, bread, pastries, cream sauce, basically anything that isn't made from meat. Tons of room for calories. Also, vegetarians eat a lot of nuts and avocado. Very fattening. Vegans get fat even faster because they have to think about food constantly and make it all the time from scratch.
My focus is on staying healthy, and so I make a point to exercise for over an hour every day, not eat high calorie things unless they are good for me (I eat a few almonds or an avocado if I feel like it), eat at certain times during the day, get a balanced intake of protein/iron/calcium/etc and eat mostly raw food.
That is different from why I am vegetarian, which is because I've been one since I was a child and can't imagine a dead animal tasting good enough to want to eat. In my opinion, killing and eating an animal when there are plenty of delicious vegetarian foods around is one of the most selfish and needlessly cruel things I can think of.
So...
-I want to eat a balanced, mostly raw, healthy, delicious diet.
-I want to stay thin because it is my personal aesthetic and what I believe looks prettiest.
-I'm a vegetarian out of habit (since I was a kid) and out of lack of desire to eat meat.
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