Japanese is best learned by talking to others. When I got to Japan, I know very little and had to learn most of it by talking to other students. These are some of the fun words I used almost every day. If you like them, feel free to sprinkle them in your own day to day conversations!
やばい
Romanji- yabai
Dictionary meaning – dangerous
Colloquial meaning – oh crap, positive and negative, good or bad- that’s crazy, can be said with force or casually
Example from my life – *drops freshly chopped garlic everywhere* “yabai”; *campus dance crew starts a flash mob with someone dressed up as Spiderman* “yabai!”
Image via Kansai Gaidai University – the dance crews are amazing
マジで
Romanji- majide
Dictionary meaning – seriously; really?
Colloquial meaning – no way!; really?- often used as an exclamation; similar words used in the Kansai region include honma and hontoni
Example from my life – *Japanese student tells us she owns a monkey* “majide?!”
めっちゃ
Romanji- meccha
Dictionary meaning – “ridiculously” (this word comes from 滅茶苦茶/mechakucha)
Colloquial meaning – used often in place of totemo (very); it is most used in the Kansai region
Example from my life – *guy at the bar who just learned this word* “Oh so I would say I am meccha drunk right?”
Image via Cheers Jr – the bar I heard the quote
All of these are used in the Kansai dialect in the Kansai region (around Osaka). Often, they are used as exclamations or used with English words to really make a point. They are also just really fun to say and often get a laugh out of Japanese people if you say it to them.