Everyone loves to learn rude words in another language. And chances are if you watch anime or Japanese TV shows regularly, you have heard of many of them.
You may have seen these expressions in anime or manga. You may have noticed when these words are translated, they are often substituted with swear words.
This article shows the meanings of frequently-used Japanese expressions which people use to insult others.
馬鹿 (Baka)
馬鹿 (ばか) means ‘idiot’, and this word is very commonly used. If you have watched any Japanese anime, I bet you have heard this word at least once. Native Japanese people use this in conversations very often as well.
馬鹿 can be quite offensive but can be used in a friendly context. Among people who know each other very well, this word is used quite lightly and people don’t take this word very seriously.
馬鹿 is often used in conjunction with この and/or 野郎 (やろう).
For example,
この馬鹿！
You idiot!
馬鹿野郎 (ばかやろう)！
Stupid bastard!
Interestingly, the kanji idiom for 馬鹿 is made of 馬 (うま), which means ‘horse’ and 鹿 (しか), which means ‘deer’.
野郎 (Yarō)
野郎 (やろう) is a common rude expression. The word originally refers to a male person but you sometimes see it used to refer to a female as well. The word implies the speaker’s derogatory attitude towards the referent.
For example,
この野郎！
This bastard!
あほ (Aho)
あほ is another rude Japanese word that is commonly used in various contexts. The meaning of this word is essentially the same as 馬鹿 (ばか), however, while 馬鹿 is predominantly used in the Kanto area, あほ is more commonly used in the Kansai area.
In the Kansai region, people tend to use this word more lightly and the word means more like ‘an adorable idiot’.
あほ can be written in katakana (アホ) or kanji (阿保).
畜生 (Chikushō)
畜生 (ちくしょう) is refers to non-human living animals, such as birds, animals, insects, and fish. The word is also used as an insult to refer to a person who the speaker thing as ‘below human’. Therefore, saying 畜生 to someone is similar to saying ‘you beast!’
畜生 can be also used in a self-directed way to express his/her frustration. For example, when the speaker says 「畜生！」to herself, this is the same as saying ‘damn it’ or ‘son of a bitch’.
貴様 (Kisama)
貴様 (きさま) is a second person pronoun, and there are many second person pronouns. 貴様 simply means ‘you’, but it also implies that the speaker has a derogatory attitude towards the referent. Therefore, the word is often translated as ‘you bastard!’
Normally, when you refer to a person you are talking to in Japanese, you use the name of the person or a general second person pronoun such as ‘あなた’ or ‘きみ’. In Japanese, not showing an expected level of politeness can be considered rude, so using 貴様 can sound quite rude as it shows you refuse to use any other nicer ways to address that person.
お前 (まえ) is another second person pronoun that is used in a similar way as 貴様.
Ex
貴様は誰 (だれ) だ？
Who are you, bastard?
じじい、ばばあ (Jijī, Babā)
These are words that imply disrespectful attitude towards おじいさん or おばあさん. One can call an old man じじい and an old lady ばばあ to show their lack of respect towards them.
間抜け (Manuke)
間抜け (まぬけ) is used in the same way as 馬鹿 or アホ. 「間 (ま)」refers to a rhythm or tempo in a drama or a theatre and「抜(ぬ)け」refers to ‘missed out’. The word 「間抜け」originally meant to someone who can’t act and say lines with an appropriate rhythm and tempo while playing in the drama theatre. The word now refers to a person who is intellectually slow.
糞 (Kuso)
糞 (くそ) refers to excrement. When the word is used for this definition, it tends to be in kanji.
You can also use the word to emphasise the degree of something, in the same way as ‘very’, ‘extremely’ or ‘really’. You often see the word in katakana for this usage.
For example,
今日はクソ暑い！
Today is very hot!
You can also use クソ in a self-directed way to express his/her frustration, in the same way as saying ‘damn it’ or ‘son of a bitch’.
You can also use this word to refer to someone in a rude way. In this case, the word is combined with another word. For example,
クソ野郎！
You, piece of shit!
あいつはクソ弁護士だ。
That bastard is a shit-headed lawyer.
Other common expressions with クソ are 糞ったれ and 糞食(く)らえ.
糞ったれ is an expression that are made of 糞 and たれる, which means ‘to hand’ or ‘to dangle’. The word means ‘shit dangling bastard’.
糞食らえ is an expression that are made of 糞 and 食らえ. 食らえ and an imperative form of 食らう, which is an archaic version of 食う or 食 (た) べる. Therefore, 糞食らえ means ‘eat shit’.
下手くそ (Hetakuso)
下手(へた)くそ is a combination of 下手(unskilled) and くそ (shit). This word is used to express how poorly skilled someone is at something. You can use this to refer to your skill or someone else’s skill.
Ex – When you refer to yourself
私はフランス語(ご) が下手くそです。
Ex – When you refer to someone else
下手くそ!
You’re shit (at it)
雑魚 (Zako)
雑魚 (ざこ) is used as an insult towards someone who is weak or someone who is deemed to have no particular value.
Ex
あいつは雑魚だ。
That guy is insignificant / indifferent.
The original meaning of the word is ‘small random fish that has no particular commercial value’.
最低 (Saitē)
最低 (さいてい) refers to ‘worst’. This word emphasises a poor quality of one’s action (e.g. not being honest or fair). To add an extra emphasis, you can insert a small つ in between the 2 characters (e.g. 最っ低！)
ども (Domo)
You can use ども with a plural pronoun (e.g. 貴様ども、おまえらども、馬鹿ども).
Adding ども to a pronoun shows that the speaker has a condescending attitude towards the referents. Remember, you can’t use ども with singular pronouns (i.e. you can’t say 彼(かれ)ども because 彼 is singular, but you can say 彼らども as the ら makes 彼 plural).
ゴミ、カス、クズ (Gomi, Kasu, Kuzu)
Each word can mean slightly different things, but generally speaking, ゴミ and クズ mean ‘garbage’, and カス means ‘scum’.
Like English, you can use these for people you look down on.
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