How To Say Idiot In Japanese Language

What does baka mean? The short reply:

Baka (馬鹿 or ばか) is a Japanese swear or curse word meaning idiot, jackass, dumbass, or unthinking fool. (Excuse our language, please!)

That said, baka's pregnant is highly contextual, equally our resident Japanese practiced explains:

"Baka (馬鹿) ways a fool or an idiot, and used as an insult. It's a globe children would utilize, though, of form, that's not encouraged! Many people will tell you never to say baka when speaking Japanese, merely that'due south not entirely accurate.

In that location are not many swear words in the Japanese linguistic communication, then it'due south true that this word shouldn't be used lightly when dealing with acquaintances, strangers, or co-workers.

Withal, merely like in English, some people will use baka when speaking to close friends and loved ones as a kind of endearment. Tone is very of import. So the word baka may exist used in real life more than than you recall. Y'all just have to be careful how and when you use it!"

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That's the quick version

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Unsatisfied by the short reply? Here's the longer version:

Perhaps you heard someone existence called baka. Possibly y'all saw it in Japanese film and Tv – information technology'southward incredibly mutual in anime. Or perhaps you were on the receiving finish of this rather childish insult yourself.

Whatsoever your reason for seeking baka's significant, you lot've come to the right spot – we'll define this well-known Japanese expletive word, so go into the nitty gritty of its use and significant in English language.

A deeper dive into the meaning of baka

While at that place's no straight translation of baka in English, we can talk about words that are like and the subtle implications of the give-and-take.

 Depending on the context, baka as an insult has subtle notes of:

• Willfully ignorant
• Careless or thoughtless
• Lacking understanding
• Useless or broken
• Abusing a stereotype

But wait! Baka isn't only an insult: 3 other possible meanings

To complicate matters even further, baka has three other meanings and uses:

1. Obsessed

Information technology tin can also be used to say that someone is crazy for something, or so distracted by a detail thing that they go careless in other areas. This is commonly in a compound give-and-take, where baka is added as a suffix.

For case:

Senmonbaka (専門ばか): booksmart just not street smart, someone who's an expert or academic, but lacks common knowledge

Oyabaka (親馬鹿 or おやばか): literally a parent idiot, meaning doting parents, used to depict parents who are so in love with their children that they fail to encounter their faults.

Sentoubaka (戦闘ばか): someone who loves to fight, fighting-stupid.

There's even a well-known manga series called Tsuribaka-Nisshi (釣りバカ日誌), basically meaning Fishing Nut'south Diary. It centres effectually a salaryman named Densuke Hamasaki who loves fishing so much, his unimaginative supervisor calls him 'Fishing-baka' – merely the joke'south on his manager, because through fishing he meets and befriends his company'due south CEO.

two. Very

Super, extra, or very – used the style we would say, "it was insanely crowded at the club last nighttime" or, "This new Netflix serial is crazy skillful." In this case, baka is added as a prefix.

For case:

Baka dekai (馬鹿でかい): ridiculously large

Baka dakai (馬鹿高い): super expensive

Baka uke (馬鹿受): very popular, apace gaining popularity

3. My humble (stupid) self

Lastly, you tin can turn baka on yourself! Yous can use it to say that you yourself have washed a careless thing or been distracted by something, or simply to give reverence to the affair you intendance about virtually. It's normally used humbly and jokingly.

Using baka: practise's and don'ts

When yous can employ baka

Now, we're covering the nigh crucial bit of all! Here are the nearly common situations where you can utilize baka:

• Friendly ribbing with someone you're close to
• When you mean to offend
• To call yourself obsessed with something
• As a prefix to draw something as super or extra something

When you shouldn't utilize baka

And here are the times yous should never apply baka:

• At work
• Once more for the people at the back, practice not apply baka at work!
• When you're looking for a date
• Any time you lot're not sure it'll exist taken the way you mean it

Basically, err on the side of bak-caution.

And lastly, when thinking near whether or not to let a "baka!" escape your lips, consider where you are – or where the person you're talking to is from.

Spelling and pronunciation of baka

Disclaimer: if you've already read our guide to the Japanese alphabets, these different spellings of baka will look familiar to you. But if not, information technology's worth taking some time to embrace the basics before you dive in!

Every bit nosotros mentioned before, baka is normally written in kanji as 馬鹿

You lot may as well run across it written in hiragana, where you'd write ばか:

ば か

ba ka

Or, less commonly (for accent), in katakana as バカ:

バ カ

ba ka

If yous're deep into the internet, you may have also seen baka written equally ヴァカ or βακα, only those are… less correct.

In terms of pronunciation, 'a' is always pronounced ah, equally in "bah, humbug!", and so baka is pronounced simply:

bah kah

Baka. Piece of cake, correct?

Origins

Now that we've covered every possible meaning of baka and its pronunciation, permit's ponder this: where did the discussion baka come from? Well, the truth is, we don't know. There are several unlike origin stories.

One matter nosotros do know is that the word first appeared in writing as bakamono (馬鹿者), an insult loosely pregnant foolish human, in 1342 as part of the Taiheiki, a Japanese historical epic.

Before that, it gets a little murkier.

It's more often than not believed that baka came either from Sanskrit as a loanword via Buddhist monks (they practice tease, those monks!), or from Classical Chinese – which comes with a little flake of folklore. See, the kanji characters used to make the give-and-take baka are:

馬 鹿

ba ka

horse deer

Now, many different kanji characters could be used to write the syllables ba and ka, then why cull these 2?

Well, there'southward a Chinese phrase, "to bespeak at a deer and call information technology a horse" – meaning to willfully misrepresent something. It comes from a story that dates back to sometime around 220 B.C.

The story goes that a powerful eunuch named Zhao Gao wanted to take command of the Qin government. To test loyalties, he brought a deer to the Emperor and called it a horse in forepart of several regime officials. The Emperor, of course, noticed that it was, in fact, a deer.

Anyone who said that it was a equus caballus got to join the treasonous plot, while anybody who agreed with the Emperor that it was a deer mysteriously wound upwardly dead. Non a great twenty-four hours to be a very literal person. There are many similar stories from other empires over the years, so who knows how true it is, but the story certainly stuck – and many think that it formed the footing for baka being written as "horse deer".

We may never know the total origin story. The truth could well be some combination of these two things colliding to class the word as we know it today.

Only what nosotros exercise know is that baka has been around for a long time – and it isn't going anywhere.

And that's everything you demand to know about the meaning of baka

Now yous know the horse from the deer! Be smart (and not willfully ignorant) most how yous employ this phenomenal vocabulary power.

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Source: https://blog.busuu.com/baka-meaning/

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