Your favorite expressions/words in Japanese?

welcome is yookoso. sometimes it's hard to tell s sounds from z sounds when they talk fast, ne?

i like aho too i dunno why lol. especially when it's used in anger. i guess maybe cause it sounds like a**hole lol

"Irasshaimase(Irasshai)"* I always get a typo on this x.x

jmshadowdancer wrote: itadakimasu: let's eat I really like the way this sounds when you say it. I say it so much my little cousins started using it!! :)

P.S.
i like "yankee" while watching Yankee-kun to Megane-chan my friend didn't understand. And kept asking why the other kids were afraid. I tried explain but she just didn't get.... lmao :D

Haha, so now your little cousins know some Japanese. =) It's so nice to know that I'm not the only one picking up expressions and having the urge to use them all the time. "Yankee" is nice one too, you'd never guess its meaning in Japanese if you don't know it. =)

vyhan wrote: My is rather how they say the words rather than the words themselves....

I agree, I also love some words just because of the way they are said: voice, pitch and especially expressions... :D Kawaii, kakkoii and baka are good examples. =)

bubbafish wrote: i think irasshaimase is just more formal/polite form of irasshai isn't it?
as for the difference between irasshai and yookoso, in the dictionary i use they are just both listed as "welcome!" maybe they are used for different contexts, i don't know

I asked my father about this xD He says that Irasshai is used for welcoming people when they enter small places such as the market, stores, classrooms etc. and youkoso is used when you are welcoming people in places such as cities, towns etc.

Either way I'm not really sure xD

Some of my favorites are:

ki o tsukete- "Take care/Be careful" While I learned it is not said as often as it is in English, I really like this expression because I worry a lot (^o^)

Maji de- "really!?/Really" A more colloquial and "younger" way of saying "hontou"
ex: maji de kakkoii (really cool!) ex: Maji de!? (Really!?)

Wasureta- "I forgot" I say this so much!

Ganbatte ne- "Do your best!" A lot of people really like this expression. I use it a lot and like it because there is not a completely similar expression in English. ('Good Luck' is a little different)

Sankyu-I just love the way it sounds
Moshi Moshi- Hello(on phone).I always answer my phone like this
Yare Yare-Oh my goodness
He-huh(I use this on a daily basis)
Kawaii-cute
Baka-stupid
Oi-hey
Ursai-shut up
Kuso yarou-piece of shit(I tebd to say this alot when i am mad)

i'm adding a new one. i've been hearing it alot lately and i see it on the list above.

daijoubu=i'm fine/alright/okay etc

shou ga nai/shikata ga nai しょうがない/しかたがない- Japanese saying, "It can't be helped." dou iu imi desu ka どう言う意味ですか。　"What is the meaning?" (ex: Your Japanese friend asks if you know what "ringo" means, if you don't you can use this. I think it can somewhat double for "how do you say it? depending on the context) dou shiyou (kana) どうしようかな。。ー what should I do/what should we do.. (mumbled to yourself, kind of like Korean "otteoke" )