BAKA! Japan’s Most Popular Profanity

“Baka” is the most commonly used Japanese swear word. It usually means foolish or stupid, but can take on a whole range of meanings depending of context, relationship, and various other factors. In kanji, it’s usually written ??. When separated, the literal meaning of those kanji are ? (horse) and ? (deer). These kanji were selected simply because of their sounds “ba” and “ka”, but there are several other combinations that would have served the same purpose, such as ?? (Mother-Daughter), ?? (Horse-Daughter), ?? (Broken-House), ?? (Trillions-Beautiful voice), ?? (Horse-Earning money), and ?? (One foot-House).

It’s also commonly written in Hiragana as ?? or in Katakana as ??. On the internet, it is sometimes written as “???” or “????”.

Although baka can be used in several ways, there is certainly a negative connotation attached to it (it is a swear word after all). Thus it’s not typically used in public or legal situations.

For example, if you say “baka” to a subordinate in your company, you may have to spend some time in HR watching videos on an old VCR for a few hours. There is a certain amount of caution that needs to be exercised before pulling this puppy out of your Japanese language arsenal.

Therefore, we are going to study the word “baka” so as not to be ?? by misusing it.

The Origin Of Baka

There are several theories on the origin of baka, which regrettably means we can’t be sure which one is correct. The oldest written usage of baka is in Taiheiki (a Japanese historical epic said to have been written by Kojima Houshi in the 1370s). At the time the word was not ?? but ??? (???? / stupid person). So the theories which take into that ??? was the first usage of the term are more believable than others. There’s a multitude of interesting theories but today we’ll focus on just five of them.

#1 A Story from the Shiki (The Records of the Grand Historian from China)

During the era of the second emperor Kogai of the Qin dynasty, his eunuch Choko planned a rebellion in an attempt to usurp his power. He wanted to find out which courtiers were on his side and came up with an idea. He brought a deer to the Imperial palace, offered it to the emperor and said, “I’ve brought you a very rare horse”. Understandably, the emperor got confused and asked, “Isn’t this a deer?”

With a divisive line drawn, Choko then moved towards the courtiers asking, “This is most certainly a horse, is it not?” Those who were afraid of Choko replied, “Yes, this is a horse” and those who did not fear him answered, “No, it’s a deer”. Choko later killed the courtiers who answered deer. From that, the phrase “????” (??????????? / Pointing at a deer, calling it a horse) arose to describe using power to insist that something is one thing though it is clearly another.

It’s believed that baka comes from this story and this theory is actually the most widely accepted. However, one inconsistency is that the ‘ka’ part of ‘baka’ is actually a Japanese reading and wouldn’t have been read this way in Chinese.

#2 The Sanskrit Word “Moha”

Another word that can be read as “baka” is the kanji ??, which is from the Sanskrit word “moha”, meaning “ignorance” and “illusion”. In this theory, it’s theorized that monks began using baka esoterically and it came into common usage later on. This theory was put forward by an Edo period Japanese scholar, Sadakage Amano, and is used in most major Japanese dictionaries, including the Kojien. However, some studies question this theory since “ignorance” was not among the meanings for baka when it was first used.

An interesting addition to this theory is that in Bengali, the official language of Bangladesh which has its origins in Sanskrit, the word “baka” means “stupid person”.

#3 Wakamono (Young People)

In Japanese “??” (wakamono) means “young people”. In this theory, the “w” of wakamono was for some reason changed into a “b” when referring to young people as stupid and, thus, “???” (bakamono) came into being .

Kunio Yanagida, the father of Japanese native folkloristics, said that the editor of Kojien, Izuru Shinmura, presented this theory but didn’t leave any documents supporting it when he died. So the truth of this theory is still uncertain. What is known, however, is that Shinmura was unwilling to accept the Sanskrit theory of “Moha” for the Kojien.

#4 Bankrupt Family

The word “??” (baka) in the Zen Buddhist scripture means ‘a family bankrupted’ and it’s said that “???” (bakamono) came out of this to refer to a person as “someone that is so stupid that they could allow their family to go bankrupt”. This theory was presented by a professor at Tohoku university, Kiyoji Sato, and adopted by a Japanese dictionary ??????? (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten).

#5 The Family Name ? (Horse)

In Bai Juyi’s poetry anthology ???? (Hakushi Monju), there is a poem about a wealthy Chinese family with the name ? who spend all their money on stupid things and eventually go bankrupt. It’s considered ???(bakamono) was born as a ???(bakamono), which can be broken down as ?(Horse)-?(Family’s)-?(Person). This theory was presented by Osamu Matsumoto in his book “??????????” (Zenkoku Aho?Baka Bunpu Kou).

How To Use Baka #Nuance

Though we can’t be sure how it came into being, we know that baka eventually emerged to take its place as the nasty little word we know and love today. That said, let’s go over how it’s being used presently and learn how to “mind your Ba’s and Ka’s”.

The often observed implications of the word are “insufficient knowledge”, “insufficient thoughtfulness”, “insufficient understanding”, or “abusing the stereotype”. The meaning changes depending on the person who says it, the person/object/situation it is directed towards, and the situation in which it is used.

I know that sounds confusing. With so many possibilities, surely you’ll have trouble knowing exactly when to use it. However, unlimited possibilities mean you pretty much can’t get it wrong. The beauty of the many nuances is that you can just blurt out ?? at any random time and people will automatically correlate the meaning most suited to the current situation. You (mostly) can’t lose!

Be aware though that its usage is quite different regionally. For example, in Kanto (Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa), baka is generally used for mild ridicule, whereas it’s the go-to word when you really want to curse someone out in the Kansai region (Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, and Shiga). Thus, it’s important to note that people take this word very differently depending on where they’re from.

If you know a bit of a certain dialect, you may have heard the synonym “??” (?? / Aho), which is the most commonly used profanity in Kansai. Although both are very similar words, there are slight differences between them. Baka is often used when someone’s will or effort to understand is lacking, whereas aho is used when someone’s ability to understand is completely lacking. So aho is generally the more nasty of the two.

The place where one must practice the most discretion though, is Hokkaido. People from all over Japan have moved to Hokkaido so there is no way of immediately knowing which side of the Aho / Baka fence someone might fall on. The nastier of the two words may differ depending on the area of Hokkaido you’re in. Hokkaido-ans also have their own regional version of baka, which is ?????? (Hankakusai) or in the old dialect ????? (Takuranke), but more on that later.

How To Use Baka #PositiveMeaning

Baka is often used to mock someone, but it can also be used in a good-natured way. Like the English word “silly”, it could express stupidity, foolishness, and irrationality, but can also describe ridiculousness, an inebriated state, or even feelings of endearment for someone. If you tell that beautiful woman walking down the street or the handsome guy from accounting that they are baka, you’re not likely to get a phone number. But watching how baka is used between people can reveal the kind of relationship they share.

Someone who is really into something can also be called baka. In this case, “baka” means that you are so keenly interested and involved in something that your attention for other people or other things is lacking. For example, there is a famous movie called “??????” (??????? / Tsuri-Baka-Nisshi / Fishing Fool’s Diary) in which the the main character is a salaryman whose top priority is fishing. This particular meaning is often self-appointed and sometimes denotes a sort of respect.

Some more examples of this usage are: ???? (Yakyu-baka) meaning someone who is really into baseball. If you are really into learning Japanese, you might call yourself????? (Nihongo-baka).

Baka can also be used for someone who works so diligently and purposefully towards a sole endeavor that they become a master of that one thing. For this type of ??, there is another expression, which is “????” (??????? / Guchoku No Nen). ?? means simply and stupidly honest and ? refers to a sense or feeling. An example of this usage is the title of the manga????????(????????? / Karate Baka Ichidai / A Karate-Crazy Life).

How To Use Baka #Combination

The most common word paired with ?? directly translates as something you might have combined with the phrase “dummy” or “meanie” when you were three. ? (?? / oo / Big) is commonly added to the beginning of baka and is used when someone is being really stupid, or??? (???? / oobaka ) a “Big Stupid”.

This is also used when somebody goes a little kooky. Instead of using ?, young people often add? (?? / Geki / Intense) or ? (??? / Chou / Very) which form to become??? (???? / Gekibaka / Intensely Stupid) or ??? (????? / Choubaka / Very Stupid). It’s not the exact same pronunciation as the character Chewbacca, but it’s good way to help you remember.

Another common word paired with ?? is ???? (????? / bakayarou / stupid man). I supposed the equivalent in English would be something like “dude”, as ?? (??? / yarou) is slang for ‘man’. However, unlike dude, it can take on a bad meaning like jerk, schmuck, or other more inappropriate names. Combining ?? with such a word can come off pretty strong, but if you’re through the roof ???? is not strong enough. For intense situations you need the big guns.

If you add ? in front like ????? (??????? / oobakayarou / Incredibly stupid person) then you’ll definitely cut the offending person down to size.

Sometimes, ?? (Yarou) is replaced with a neutral word, such as ? (?? / mono / person), or with a more nasty word like ?? (tare). When you add ? (? / ko /small) instead of ? in front of ??, as in ??? (??? / kobaka), you get the meaning of ‘to look down on someone’.

Examples of Usage

To get a better idea of when and where you should use each instance of baka, I’ve put together some situations so you use the right baka at the right time.

#1. To rail at someone who made a mistake or did something stupid.

“ ??!” “????!” “?????!”

#2. To regret that you or someone else did something stupid.

“????????” (I/You/He/She/They did such a stupid thing.)

In this case, you can add a suffix like ?????????(yo), ?????????(na), ?????????(ne), ???????????(monda) to the end for adding some more specific nuance. As for ? (ne), here is the explanation what kind of meaning it will add.

#3. To look down on someone who doesn’t know something you consider to be common knowledge.

“????????????” (You don’t even know ~? You are such a simple minded person)

“????0??????????” (You got a score of 0 on the test? You must be pretty dumb.)

#4. Someone who can’t think objectively or rationally about something.

“???” (????) – ? (??- Oya) means parents and combines with baka to become ??? (Oyabaka) means ‘overly-fond parents’. In this case, a parent loves their child/children so much that they can’t think objectively or rationally when it comes to them.

#5. Someone who is only well learned in one subject and lacks common knowledge. In this usage, the meaning of baka is similar to otaku.

????????????(?????????????) (He is crazy about math.)

????????????(?????????????) (He is crazy about baseball.)

??????????????(?????????????) (He is crazy about soccer.)

#6. Something that is useless or broken.

?????????(????????) (The screw loosened and won’t fasten anymore.)

?????????(???????????) (Your sense of smell has become stupid.)

#7 Used as a prefix to express something extraordinary.

???? (???????) (Super honest)

?????(?????) (Super big)

???? (?????) (Party out)

????(????) (Super funny, Very popular)

???? (????) (Sold very well)

Baka Dialects

I briefly mentioned the Hokkaido dialectal differences for baka earlier, but why not learn each prefectural dialect, as well? Some places just use ?? and don’t have dialectical variation, but most have fun ways to call people stupid. (Note: Some regions in the prefecture may use different expressions. The Japanese dialects are not perfectly divided by the prefectural boundary.)

Okinawa: ???

Kagoshima:??

Miyazaki: ????

Oita:????

Kumamoto:??????

Nagasaki: ??

Saga:??????

Fukuoka:??????

Kochi:???

Ehime:???

Kagawa:???

Tokushima:??

Yamaguchi:??

Shimane:???

Tottori:???

Hiroshima:??

Okayama:????

Wakayama:??

Nara:??

Hyogo:??

Osaka:???

Kyoto:??

Shiga:???

Mie:???

Gifu:???

Aichi:???

Shizuoka:??

Fukui:??

Ishikawa:??

Toyama:??

Niigata:??

Nagano:????

Yamanashi:????

Kanagawa:??

Tokyo:??

Chiba:??

Saitama:??

Gunma:??

Tochigi:????

Ibaraki:??

Fukushima:??

Yamagata:??????

Akita:???

Miyagi:?????

Iwate:???

Aomori:?????

Hokkaido:??????

Which one is your favorite? Mine is ?????? in Saga. It sounds cute, doesn’t it?

Conclusion

Harlan Ellison once said “the two most common elements in the world are hydrogen and stupidity.” With so many ways to be stupid, we humans need just as many ways to call it out. So study up on these variations of “baka”, so you’re ready for whatever dumb situations life throws at you, or so you can accurately describe yourself when you absent mindedly find yourself in baka whirlpool of your own making. Whether talking about your love of fishing or blowing off some steam with some casual Japanese swearing, be sure to use ?? responsibly, effectively, and maybe even a little bit foolishly.

Bonus Wallpapers!

[Desktop – 5120×2880 / 1280×720] ? [Mobile 1 / 2 / 3]

The post BAKA! Japan’s Most Popular Profanity appeared first on Tofugu.

read the original article