Anyone know Japanese?
 

I need to know how to say 'badass' in Japanese. I just bought a guitar made by Tokai, a Japanese company and I want to name it. :). Its so badass.

According to babelfish, it's still "badass."

Yeah I tried babelfish but I trust humans more then the computer. Looking back at my french marks, babelfish has failed me more then once.

Heh heh, I can barely say hello and identify myself. Kokoro is mirror if you change your mind ;)

Well it IS kinda shiny but badass is still what im sticking with.

"aku" is evil, bad, or wicked
Not sure about ass.
Are you looking for a literal translation of "bad" and "ass" or are you looking for a term which means "badass"

-Robert

either one would be cool. I doubt that Japanese has a word for badass but the two seperate words put together would work just as nicely.

Well, on the off-chance you run into a native Japanese speaker who hears the name of your guitar, I think you'd rather have the one that means "badass" instead of "evil donkey" or "wicked butt" ;)

The Japanese don't really have a "badass" concept.

If they wanted to express it, they'd probably say "badass."

Sorry.

Yep.

I was searching on Google Japan and I found a site that tries to explain the idea of "badass" to Japanese movie watchers:

http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~tango2/A/pred.html

They don't do a very good job. The closest word they can come up with pretty much means "amazing" or "incredible."

Go to a tattoo parlor and ask them. Not only will they be happy to show you some random kanji that they say MEANS badass, but they will also gladly ink it on your ankle for a nominal fee. Of course it could really say "Toss my salad," but who's gonna know unless you go to Japan?

Toss my salad would be pretty cool all the same

kowatta no ono. "The axe which is feared"

I can barely speak English there is no way I could learn Japanese.

Less than a week from now, I start a four week intensive Japanese course, talk about killing a perfectly good summer.

Japanese is all based off of metaphors, really. So there is most likely no word for badass. Most likely they would say the English 'badass' or 'cool'.......I would stick to 'aku.' That would be neat.

Right - they get enough laughs reading all the tattoos here that are supposed to say stuff like "brave warrior" but really say stuff like "stupid fat drunken gaijin."

call it yakuza. that means badass, just about.

I'm liking this one. All of you been a big help so far. I just need the stupid thing to arrive :( Stupid Purolator is taking so much time.

No one really converts "kowai" into a passive verb.

To be correct it would be "hito wo kowakusaseru ono" which is just too lengthy. And not at all badass.

i don't think it matters--sounds like none of his friends are japanese so no-one would ever know the difference.

In that case, "evil donkey" is probably the way to go...

kireina onanoko = beautiful girl

niho wa takai = japan is expensive

niho wa korei = japan is beautiful

I know a little Japanese
<img src="http://www.sakura-do.com/n009.jpg">

Actually, I am seriously considering getting either the "Dirty American Devil" or the "Baka Gaijin" T-Shirt from J-List.

To take this thread in another direction, I'm thinking about getting into Japanese. I want to get an audio program and a book first, and then take courses. Can anyone suggest something for the first step?

if you're going to go this road, how about just "kowai ono," which translates to scary axe, as opposed to the longer one which translates to the axe that makes a person scared.

also, i'd say "yabai" is a pretty close translation to "badass." a direct translation is dangerous, but it takes on various meanings when used as slang., including a positive meaning, which is as close to badass as you're gonna get in Japanese.

Well, there's a series called Instant Immersion that covers quite a few languages. They have a 4CD and a 6CD (the professional version) version for Japanese in the 20-40 dollar range.

Rosetta Stone has a program that's quite a bit more expensive. If I remember correctly, it's at least $120.

Then there's Pimsleur, which I don't know much about, and Tell Me More.

If you're going for the Rosetta Stone, remember how much BitTorrent costs.

kadath,

i backpacked japan for 5 weeks or so this summer. i can highly recommend the pimsleur curriculum. they have a cheaper version for people who are just traveling or for business, but the person serious about learning the language should get the more expensive set. i believe there are 20-30 twenty minute lessons per volume, i think i remember there being 3 volumes.

they have served me well but are very expensive and only recommended if you are certain to make a serious effort. of course, once you buy them, feel free to get "backup" copies of the lessons from bittorrent or p2p.

i got around just fine but there is sure is a lot to learn. PM me if i can help ya out.