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21-Oct-2005, 05:11
| | Member | | Join Date: Jun 2003 Country: Japan
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| |  slang for 'modern'
NAUI
Borrowing the English word 'now' and putting
the Japanese adjectival suffix 'i', a new
slang word is heard 'now-i' ('naui' in Japanese
spelling). I think it can be called a slang word
for 'modern'. 'naui fashion', 'naui way of speech', etc.
Is there any such slang word in English? 'nowbie'? No.
Thank you. |
21-Oct-2005, 07:43
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| | Re: slang for 'modern'
Quote: |
Originally Posted by Itasan NAUI
Borrowing the English word 'now' and putting
the Japanese adjectival suffix 'i', a new
slang word is heard 'now-i' ('naui' in Japanese
spelling). I think it can be called a slang word
for 'modern'. 'naui fashion', 'naui way of speech', etc.
Is there any such slang word in English? 'nowbie'? No.
Thank you. | a few less formal ones:
cool, groovy, hot, swanky, trendy, chic.  |
21-Oct-2005, 07:54
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| | Re: slang for 'modern'
Additionally, "in"; e.g., It's in. Cf. It's out. Japanese, out-i (?) 
Itasan, would that suffix be related to long "ii", meaning good? |
21-Oct-2005, 08:15
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| | Re: slang for 'modern'
Thank you very much, everybody.
>>Additionally, "in"; e.g., It's in. Cf. It's out. Japanese, out-i (?) <<
'Out-i' - very interesting, but it's impossible, IMHO. LOL
>>Itasan, would that suffix be related to long "ii", meaning good?<<
Oh, you know it very well. ii = good. It seems it doesn't apply in this case. Or maybe it does. Sorry it's difficult.
Adjectives ending in 'i': oishii, mazui, subarashii, so 'ii' might be one of them. Sorry I'm not a good Japanese teacher.
BTW, "Your hat's in today." "His glasses are out."
Do they work, meaning 'fashionable' and 'unfashionable'?
Itasan |
21-Oct-2005, 08:22
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| | Re: slang for 'modern'
Yes. "That hat's in (style) and that hat's [i]out[/u] (of style)". The heading "In & Out" is fairly popular in fashion magazines. It heads articles that describe what's in (fashion) and what's out (of fashion).
A note on Japanese adjectival - i.
I get it, Itasan. Even adjectives that take the non-Japanese adjectival particle, > Chinese na; i.e., kirei na, okii na, also end in -i. The new word "nau-i" is an analogical development. That is, add - i to make a word an adjectives, even add it to foreign words; i.e., "now" (adverb) => "now-i" ~ "nau-i" (adjective), meaning it's in (fashion) right now. | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes |  Linear Mode | 
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