Debu (fat person or the state of being fat) is the most common all-embracing slang term used to describe fat people. Debu-chan, with the diminutive suffix, implies some degree of affection when applied to roly-poly children or young people.
O-debu (san) is mainly used for young women, and debuchin or debutcho for men. Fatty, fatso, or butterball would be English equivalents. Debu-debu (a ton of lard) is appropriate when one wants to emphasize merely the fact that a person is fat. Hyakkan debu might also be translated as a ton of lard. Hyakkan is 100 kan, kan being an old Japanese unit of weight equalling approximately 3,750 grams, or a little more than eight pounds. Konishiki, a sumo wrestler from Hawaii who weighs in at over 200 kilograms or 440 pounds, is regarded as hyakkan debu. Akebono, also from the U.S. and a sumo grand champion, is not called debu because he's relatively tall.
Deppuri is an adjective that can be applied to a stout, yet rather wealthy, gentleman, as in deppuri shita shinshi (portly gentleman) or deppuri futotta hito (portly person). Futotta is an adjective formed from the verb futoru (to become fat).
Maru-maru shita (round and full) is an expression commonly used when commenting on a chubby or rolypoly baby. Marupocha (cutie) describes a short, plump, but nevertheless charming young girl. Pocha comes from the mimetic adjective potchari (plump yet attractive). Another expression making use of this term is pochapochatto shita ii onna, the ii onna in this case being a very appealing woman. When this woman gets a little older, however, she might be described with the adjective kobutori (dumpy). Ko-is a prefix meaning small or little, and butori is a euphonic change of futori (fat).
Zunguri (shita) or the stronger zunguri mukkuri (shita), both mimetic expressions, are commonly applied to people who are short and fat and, at the same time, somewhat unattractive. Pudgy, stumpy, or tubby would be among the many English translations. Gasshiri shita (solidly built) would be well-built, stout, or sturdy.
Futome is a rather fashionable word these days.-Me is a suffix implying a little bit or rather. Hosome, for example, means rather thin, and katame, rather hard. Futome is a more gracious term than debu. If you say kanojo wa debu, it sounds as if you are just being nasty, but chotto futome is closer to pleasingly plump. Futome can also be used to describe animals.
Speaking of animals, butanko and tonko for women and bu-chan for men are other close synonyms of debu. Buta is pig, and bū-bū is the sound a pig makes, similar to oink oink in English. Bū-bū iu means to constantly complain. Ton is an alternative pronunciation of the same character for pig. Tonko is most often used to describe an unattractive young woman, while bu-chan is an affectionate expression often used in nicknames for men.
Hara or onaka (belly) ga dete iru (swelling out) is the most commonly accepted expression for paunchiness. Some slang variations are biya-daru (beer barrel) and zundo (thick trunk). Kono goro hara ga detchatta (I've recently started growing a paunch) is a commonly heard lament among middle-aged men. Sandan-bara (literally, triply undulated fat belly), on the other hand, is greatly dreaded by middle-aged women.
A word of caution: when you say ōki-na onaka about a woman it means she's pregnant, as in kanojo wa onaka ga ōkii or ōki-na onaka o shite iru. Slang variations for this are boteren and botebara. Another tricky expression to watch for is hara ga futoi (literally, fat stomach) or futoppara in reference to a man. This means he's broadminded.
Dekai o-shiri and the abbreviated detchiri (big backside), as well as the more slangy dekkai ketsu (big butt), are popular derogatory terms applied to women. In Japanese, shiri or o-shiri (literally, latter or hind end), and ketsu (hole) all mean butt, hips, or ass. Ketsu also implies anus.
Koshi means waist and hips. Japanese people favor yanagi-goshi (a willow-tree shaped waist or slender figure); this shape is perceived as being most attractive in the bulky, traditional kimono. Hatomune desshiri or simply hatomune (both meaning pigeon's chest or big breasts) tends to throw the elegant shape of the kimono out of proportion.
Tareta o-shiri (hanging butt or droopy ass) is another bane of middle-aged women. The noun form for this is tare-jiri.
There are many idiomatic expressions using shiri. They include shih-uma (blind imitation), shiri-kire (abrupt ending), shiri-nuke (leaving something half-done), and shiri-nugui (literally, wiping another's ass; figuratively, paying a debt on another's behalf).
Now that we can insult almost any kind of person's appearance, this might be an appropriate spot to introduce some complementary (and complimentary) words of praise.
Bijo refers to a good-looking woman, and bidan, or bidanshi, a handsome man. Bidanshi is often pronounced binanshi or simply binan. Bi means beauty. Bijin (literally, beautiful person) is used only to refer to women. Beppin is a synonym for bijin, implying elegant beauty. Kanojo wa sugoi beppin da can be translated as she's a real knockout. Adjectives such as utsukushii and kirei, both meaning beautiful or pretty, have traditionally been used only in reference to women. But with the advent of the feminist movement, they are now occasionally used in decribing a man. Otokomae, on the other hand, can only be used when speaking of a man, as in kare wa otokomae (he's a handsome man).
A very popular expression used to describe a beautiful person is ii onna or ii otoko. Ii is the colloquial form of the adjective yoi (good, beautiful, fine). Nowadays one rarely hears yoi in common conversations: it's ii tenki rather than yoi tenki, for example. Ii onna implies many things, but most commonly it describes a mature, attractive, and independent woman. Kanojo wa boku no ii onna, however, means she's my lover. Ii hito can also mean lover or steady partner, as in watashi no ii hito (my boyfriend). When you want to ask someone if he or she has a girl (or boy) friend, a rather nice way of putting it is (dareka) ii hito iru no?
An expression used to praise a good-looking woman is hatto suru hodo ii onna. Hatto suru is an intransitive verb meaning to be suprised or given a start. Hodo indicates degree or comparison. So the expression roughly means a suprisingly gorgeous woman.
Me (eye) no sameru (to awake) yō-na bijin is a woman of dazzling beauty. In the same vein, iki (breath) o nomu (to drink or inhale) yō-na bijin can be almost directly translated as a breathtaking beauty. Japanese often add the adverb omowazu (unconsciously) before iki o nomu to indicate that the person's breath has been taken away without his even being aware of it.
Nimai-me is a traditional expression that is still used for a handsome man. Nimai-me (literally, the second ranked) originally came from kabuki. When a play was being performed, the names of the main actors would be displayed on the marquee outside the theater. The name of the biggest star would always be followed by that of a handsome young actor. This tradition still lingers in the film and theatrical worlds today. Sanmai-me (the third ranked), according to this system, is a fun-loving character. So, when one says nimai-me han (han means half), it means a man who falls between nimai-me and sanmaime, a man who is both handsome and fun-loving.
3
Discriminatory Language
(sabetsu yōgo)
Buraku-Related (buraku kanren)
As in the U.S., discriminatory language in Japan is a major social issue. In the past 20 years or so, there has been extensive kotoba-gari (word hunting) by the Buraku Kaihō Dōmei (Buraku Liberation League, or BLL). Buraku literally means a community in a small village, or a hamlet, but in today's Japan it means a population that has historically suffered social and economic discrimination. The BLL systematically examines newspaper and magazine articles, radio and TV broadcasts, movies, and literary publications for so-called forbidden words, and, if it finds them, issue a kyudan (violent censure or protest by a group) even if the publication, film, or broadcast as a whole is against discrimination.
Just like the political correctness (PC) movement in the United States,