In our last article on Japanese internet slang, we covered 10 slang expressions that you might encounter online. Today, let’s take a look at another 10 slang words, this time focusing on social media—especially Twitter and Instagram, which have high Japanese user bases.
1. いいね (like)
In Japanese conversation, いいね (iine) means “that’s good” or “that’s nice.” On social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, this expression was adopted as the translation for “like.”
However, unlike the word “like” in English, いいね does not function as a verb on its own. You need to append the helper verb する (suru) and turn it into いいねする in order to use it as a verb. The example below features the verb いいねする, conjugated into passive and past tense:
いいねされた数だけ好きなキャラを描く
iine sareta kazu dake suki na kyara wo kaku
For every like I get, I’ll draw one of my favorite characters
There is also another word for “like” on social platforms: ファボ (fabo), which comes from the English word “favorite.” ファボ is an older term that originates from the old “favorite” button on Twitter, which existed between 2006-2015 before it was removed in favor of likes.
These days, the words いいね and ファボ are pretty much interchangeable, so feel free to use either or both!
2. リプ欄 (replies section)
Here’s a useful word for the folks who like to reply to posts on social media. リプ (ripu) is short for リプライ (ripurai, “reply”), and 欄 (ran) means “section,” so altogether リプ欄 (ripuran) means “replies section.”
リプ欄に続きます↓
ripuran ni tsuzukimasu ↓
Continued in the replies ↓
A related word is コメ欄 (komeran), which is short for コメント欄 (komento ran), and it refers to comment sections on sites such as ours!
質問があったら、コメ欄に書いてくださいね！
shitsumon ga attara, komeran ni kaite kudasai ne!
If you have any questions, drop them in the comments!
3. クソリプ (offensive/irrelevant reply)
While we’re on the subject of replies, クソリプ (kusoripu) is a handy word to know as well. クソリプ, which can be literally translated as “shitty reply,” refers to any reply on your posts that are offensive or irrelevant. Bonus points if the replies are from strangers who do not understand the point of your post or know who you are!
4. FF外失 (sorry for tweeting at you even though we don’t know each other)
This Twitter-specific expression is a doozy! FF外失 (efu efu gaishitsu) is short for this longer expression:
