Let's learn Japanimationese!

[Animeniax]

So I was at a fancy Japanese steakhouse in Tokyo recently and the waiter kept asking me if I was ready to order, and I couldn't make myself understood that I wasn't ready. I don't think he was trying to be pushy, he was just trying to be attentive and a good host.

Remembering back to some anime I've watched, I threw out "chotto matte-yo" to ask him to give me a minute. He looked a little abashed and backed off quickly. I hadn't meant to be rude or too straight-forward but didn't realize what I had said. I should have said "chotto matte", but what did I know? Anime had steered me wrong.

So here goes:

-yo at the end of any statement adds emphasis and is considered forceful and somewhat crude. So whenever you hear someone in anime say something ending in "yo", its because they're making a firm or strong statement. That's why "nan da yo" is often translated as "what the f*ck?". Literally it still means "what is it?", but with some force behind it.

Some anime examples:

da-tte-ba-yo (in this word, both the "tte" and the "yo" are emphasis words)
de gozaru yo (from Kenshin, means "that it is", but with emphasis)

Any native speakers or learned-gaijin, please feel free to correct me or add to this.

[Deadfire]

I guess I will throw down something.

da-tte-ba-yo (in this word, both the "tte" and the "yo" are emphasis words)
de gozaru yo (from Kenshin, means "that it is", but with emphasis)

Naruto's style is '(verb stem)tte bayo!' For instance, wakattebayo is "I get it already" or nan dattebayo is "What (the heck) is that?" It is another colloquialism not linked to any specific dialect that is meant to make the speaker sound rough and brusque, not very refined, and trying to sound tougher than they really are.

Kenshin's 'de gozaru' is an antiquated, very polite way of saying 'desu' which is like 'it is' in English.

Example:

Sou nan desu ka? (Is that so?) becomes Sou nan de gozaru (ka is implied).
Another antiquated style of this is to modify it to Sou nan de gozansu ka. That is more rare though.

Interesting thread though...

[Animeniax]

Good stuff.

So is "bayo" an actual word or suffix, or a combination or "ba" and "yo"?

[Kraco]

Heh heh. A gaijin ruffian! Well, at least you got the time needed to pick your choice, no doubt!

An interesting thread, like DF said.

"Remembering back to some anime I've watched, I threw out..." Man, that's gotta be an instantly legendary line.

[Animeniax]

It was a 9600yen (~$84) dinner (4-course steak dinner) at a swanky restaurant, so I took my time deciding between that and a 6-course dinner that was something like $115. It was my last meal in Japan, so why not.

Funniest part about the "remembering back" was that it was exactly what happened. I was feeling the pressure, like when you're shopping for a TV and the sales person won't leave you alone, then I suddenly remembered, I know how to say "gimme a minute", I've heard it a million times watching anime! Unfortunately it lead to the "yo" mistake, which I still regret.

Feel free to add some lessons. I want to get to the point that I can watch most of a mainstream anime episode without relying on subtitles.

[Mizuchi]

...you were in japan? Did they speak english? Can you speak Japanese? If they could speak english why didn't you just say give me a minute. ?