Outrageous Japanese: Slang, Curses & Epithets

by Jack Seward

Fun and instructive, this book is perfect for those looking to taste the flavor of informal Japanese, and those who want to shock or surprise a Japanese friend or enemy with a pithy phrase.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, Japan, Japanese Literature

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Since 1941 Jack Seward has been involved with the Japanese language as student, teacher, and author of more than 30 books. He has also been a lecturer on Japanese culture and communication as well as a professional interpreter and translator. In 1986 the Emperor of Japan awarded Seward the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class, for his efforts. Seward now lives in his native Texas with his Japanese wife.

Reviews

[Susannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

No book should ever, ever be relied upon to teach cursing in another language. The cusses in this book are mostly outdated and weird. I'm giving it a 4 because it's fun to bring to a party in Japan.

[Jonathan]

None

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to insult someone in Japanese, this is a good way to learn. Individual words and phrases are both used, along with explanations and various sayings.

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay so, darn. This book could have been so cool! The section on slander against people who are trying to climb the social ladder is fascinating, and some of the examples are very funny, and present an interesting starting place if you're looking to find out more about naughty speech in a language without curse-words. But there are some SUBSTANTIAL issues. MAJOR, BOOK-RUINING ISSUES.

For one, the Japanese words and phrases and examples are presented only in romaji-- no Japanese script appears in the whole book. That makes it super tricky to understand what the heck the words are meant to mean. Any usable Japanese language book needs to include, ya know, written Japanese language.

Also, many of these words are incredibly out of date or obscure, or both. I wouldn't trust that any of these would even be understood if I tried to use them with an actual Japanese person. I'd need to check and double check that many of these are legit before even bothering to remember them.

And here's the biggest issue. The big damning huge terrible book-wrecking issue. Here, I'll just let the author damn himself, from the Introduction (page 9)

"While I was attending Japanese language school, our top-priority mission was acquiring the vocabulary to a) roundly malign others, and b) become cozy with oriental maidens when we at last reached the distant misty shores of Japan. The harvest of the second task was indeed much more bountiful than the first."

So, ew.

His examples and experience is from literal actual 1941. And he's a racist, sexist, chauvinistic POS. In other words a "hinekureta seishitsu no yopparai-me." Or something.

[Jesus · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you go to Japan, you want to at least understand if they are talking about you. Yes, this book shows you and makes you learn some classic words.