gyaru terms & vocab!

welcome back~! and sorry for the wait... life has been busy since im getting ready to move, but i finally have some free time! so its time for another gyaru blog!

if you remember the ending of my substyles blog, then you may remember that i mentioned i used quite a bit of gyaru-specific words and wanted to make a blog about what it all means! so thats exactly what im doing!

it feels like my blogs always start with "a few quick notes", but anyway! firstly, i dont think this blog will be quite as comprehensive as my other blogs. i dont think this topic is obscure or anything, but its niche enough that it can be a little difficult to include every possible piece of gyaru terms/vocab/language. plus, i speak japanese like a kindergartener (if that! japanese toddlers probably speak circles around me), so finding terms and translating can be a bit tough... im going to try my best, though! i'll include examples/definitions from other resources, so that should be helpful for us all! finally, a lot of the slang is just regular japanese slang, but naturally gals use a lot of slang, so i wanted to include them!

i'll likely be adding to this every so often! so please feel free to check back whenever you wish!

alright, i'll be quiet now... enjoy~!

~

GENERAL TERMINOLOGY

gyaru (ギャル)/gyaruo (ギャル男, ギャルオ): the feminine and masculine forms for anyone who participates in the gyaru lifestyle; can be shortened to gal or guy

gaijin (外人): the japanese word for foreigner; used to identify non-japanese or overseas gyaru (gaijin gyaru) 

pagyaru/pagal (ぱギャル): half-assed gal; not fully gal

ogyaru/ogal (汚ギャル): literally means "dirty girl"; a gal who is unhygienic 

coord (コーディネート)/co*de (コーデ): outfit

make (メイク): makeup

tareme (垂れ目): literally "droopy eyes"; iconic gyaru eye makeup, often simply called a droop

example

namida bukuro (なみだぶくろ, 涙袋): tear bag; also known as aegyo sal

sujimori (スジ盛り): intricate hairstyles worn by both gals and guys

example

para para (パラパラ): synchronized dance that originated in japan; unlike most club dancing and rave dancing there are specific synchronized movements for each song much like line dancing

purikura (プリクラ): a photo sticker booth or the product of such a photo booth; gals are known to collect purikura for both personal photobooks/photo albums and to share on social media

example

gyarusa (ギャルサークル, ギャルサー): also known as gyaru circle, gal-circle, gal-cir, gal-unit, gyaru-sa; a group of gyaru and gyaruo who come together for meetups and events, as well as having their own online communities in which they communicate with one another

brand (ブランド): gyaru/shibuya 109 brands

souzai: a type of pixel emoji/emoticon, or in japanese, decome (デコメ) or decorative messages (デコメ絵文字 or デコメール); mainly associated with gyaru pixels from the site Deco Gal

example

decoden: also written as dekoden; a term for a style of decorated accessories; deco is short for decorated and den is short for denwa (phone in japanese), but is not exclusively for phones

example

SLANG & LANGUAGE (GYARU-GO/ギャル語)

*please note- this is exclusive for speaking japanese!*

gyaru-moji (ギャル文字): meaning gal's alphabet; a style of japanese writing popularized by gyaru in the 2000s, and is similar to the shorthand language and slang phrases used in the english language, often over text messages or in online spaces 

example

⤷ hiragana consisting of connected strokes are replaced by symbols or greek letters, so す (su) may be rendered as the section symbol §

⤷ hiragana consisting of detached elements are replaced by sequences of kana, western letters, or symbols, so ほ (ho) may be typed as |ま (vertical bar + hiragana ma) or (ま (open parenthesis + ma)

⤷ compound kanji are split into left and right elements, which are written as individual kanji or kana, so the kanji 好 in 好き, meaning "like, enjoy" may be split into 女子 (the kanji for woman and child, respectively).

96: used by kuro gyaru, as the japanese pronunciation of the numbers 9 (kuu) and 6 (rokku) resemble the word kuro

46: 96, but for shiro gyaru

JK: abbreviated form of joshi-kousei (女子高生), or high school student

yabai (やばい): used to express something that is dangerous, risky, or sketchy; can also describe something really cool or amazing

example

⤷ この映画、やばい！ (Kono eiga, yabai!) – This movie is amazing!

maji (まじ): short for honki (本気), meaning serious; can be used to express surprise, disbelief, or emphasis

example

⤷ まじで？ (Maji de?) – Are you serious?

⤷ can be shortened to “ま？”

hamaru (はまる): means “to get hooked” or “to be into something”; used to describe a hobby or activity that someone is really interested in

example

⤷ このゲーム、はまってる！ (Kono geemu, hamatteru!) – I’m hooked on this game!

mattari suru (まったりする): means “to chill” or “to relax”

example

⤷ 今日は家でまったりする。 (Kyou wa ie de mattari suru.) – I’m going to chill at home today.

shika katan (しか勝たん): means “nothing can beat” or “the best is”

example 

⤷ このラーメン屋しか勝たん！ (Kono ramen-ya shika katan!) – This ramen restaurant is the best, nothing can beat it!

sukaru (スカる): comes from the english word scarf; means to cancel or to be stood up, often used in dating situations

example

⤷ デート中にスカられた。 (Deeto chuu ni sukarareta.) – I got stood up during the date.

wairudo (ワイルド): comes from the english word wild; means cool or awesome, often used to describe a person’s attitude or style

example

⤷ 彼はワイルドな人だ。 (Kare wa wairudo na hito da.) – He’s a cool and wild person.

boyaku (ボヤく): means to complain or to grumble; used to describe someone who complains too much

example

⤷ 彼女、いつも何かにボヤいてるよね。 (Kanojo, itsumo nanika ni boyaiteru yo ne.) – She’s always complaining about something.

majikichi (マジキチ): comes from the words maji (マジ) and kichigai (キチガイ), which means crazy; means seriously crazy or insane 

example

⤷ あの人、マジキチだよね。 (Ano hito, majikichi da yo ne.) – That person is seriously crazy.

sensu ii (センスいい): means “stylish” or “tasteful”

example

⤷ 彼女のコーディネート、センスいいよね。 (Kanojo no koodineeto, sensu ii yo ne.) – Her outfit has a good sense of style, right?

jiwaru (ジワる): means “to gradually become popular” or “to gain momentum”; used to describe a trend or a product that becomes more popular over time

example

⤷ このアプリ、最近ジワってきたよね。 (Kono apuri, saikin jiwa tte kita yo ne.) – This app has been gradually becoming more popular recently.

omatsuri sawagi (お祭り騒ぎ): means “a big commotion” or “a lively event”; used to describe a festival or a party

example

⤷ あの日のパーティー、お祭り騒ぎだったね。 (Ano hi no paatii, omatsuri sawagi datta ne.) – That party was a big commotion, right?

bazuru (バズる): comes from the english word buzz; means “to go viral” or “to become popular on social media”

example

⤷ この動画、バズってるらしいよ。 (Kono douga, bazutteru rashii yo.) – This video seems to be going viral.

gyau (ぎゃう): a shortened form of gyaru

example

⤷ あの子、ぎゃうだよね。 (Ano ko, gyau da yo ne.) – That girl is a gyaru, right?

gyarupi (ギャルピ): an abbreviation of gyaru piisu (ギャルピース), a hand gesture that involves making a V sign with the fingers

example

poyo (ぽよ): suffix that sounds cute

example

⤷ ぽよぽよ – poyopoyo

agepoyo (あげぽよ): the most popular poyo word; means to be super excited, energetic 

example 

⤷ あっ！コメンットがある！あげぽよ〜！– Ahh! I got a comment! Yayyy~!

⤷ けいすけからメール来た！アゲポヨ！– I got a text from Keisuke! Agepoyo!

sagepoyo (さげぽよ): from sage (さげ), meaning "to lower"; sad, disappointed 

shogepoyo (しょげぽよ): opposite of agepoyo; bored, not excited

rabupoyo (らぶぽよ): from rabu (ラブ), meaning "love"; feeling of love, in love 

yabapoyo (やばぽよ): from yabai (やばい); bad, dangerous, risky fun

himapoyo (ひまぽよ): from hima (暇), meaning "free time"; nothing to do 

kamitteru (かみってる): god-like 

example 

⤷ あのメイクアップはかみってる〜  – That makeup is god-like~ 

torima (とりま): a shortened version of toriaezu maa, which means "for the meantime, well…"; anyway 

example 

⤷ ゆきてぃんは遅刻よ。とりま、先に行こうかな – Yuki-tin is running late. Well, for now let’s just go anyways. 

pachikoku (ぱちこく): tell a lie

ukepii (うけぴい): funny 

oolong cha (烏龍茶): annoying; long hair; brown-colored hair 

atonsu (あとんす): thank you 

yababa (やばば): a twist on yabai, an expression to yell when something is either really terrible or really great; the more ba's (ば) you add to the end, the more yabai it becomes 

example 

⤷ やばばばばば！つけま忘れちゃった！– Omgggggg! I forgot my fake eyelashes! 

KS: stands for kidoku suruu (既読 [きどく] スルー); when someone reads your message on LINE but doesn't respond to it either because they forgot or they're ignoring you 

example 

⤷ みかみかにあそぼーってLINEしたけどKSされた！– I asked Mikamika to hangout with me on LINE, but she KS’d me! 

nicknames: adding things like min, po, or chya to the end of names or shortening names is common in gyaru spaces 

example 

⤷ if you have a friend named Megumi, you may decide to call her Megumin

obasan kobun (おばさん構文): slang for someone who doesnt understand slang, memes, etc; texts like a granny

example

⤷ マジでおばさん構文だったんよ！ – She seriously texts like a granny!

~

remember what i said last time about the next blog being wayyy shorter and less overwhelming?

...yeah, me neither... if youve gotten to the end of this, you get a kiss *mwah!*

anyway! for my friends who can speak japanese/are interested in japanese, i'll be adding the resources i used here to my resource masterblog, so please check that out if you want! i can with 100% certainty promise that the next blog will be shorter and easier to get through, so please look forward to it! as always, let me know if you'd like clarification on anything, wanna point out any mistakes i may have made, or anything else you desire in the comments! 

remember, antama loves you~!

kiss kiss~ ☆⌒ヽ(*'､^*)chu