This is something I’ve noticed a lot in anime. Particularly in sports anime, so often in conversation among teenage boys. I’ve been watching a lot of The Prince of Tennis lately, so I’ve been exposed to hours of this and it’s driving me mad with curiosity.
Aside from the basic rules of dropping ですand ます, I know there are some shortcuts(?) when speaking informally i.e. じゃん instead of じゃない. That was pretty easy to discover through a quick google search.
But I have not been able to figure out what the pattern here is. Sometimes i feel like I’ll hear the です after いadjectives be half swallowed so that いたいですbecomes いたいす. It might even be いたいっす but I don’t have the most well-trained ears.
I don’t really intend on using this structure because it seems more like slang. I’d simply like to know if I’m hearing this right, if it’s a common thing and who it’s used by/where it’s used.
Thanks!
7 comments
It’s more like a contraction, but it can be both 痛いす and 痛いっす.
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it’s a particular variant, either a contraction or a devoicing of the で
tends to be used by young folks, or at least that’s the stereotype
[https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/36/what-does-%E3%81%A3%E3%81%99-at-the-end-of-a-sentence-mean](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/36/what-does-%E3%81%A3%E3%81%99-at-the-end-of-a-sentence-mean)
it’s not just す though, it’s っす
っす is a contraction of です, but it plays a very important role in Japanese slang.
It tends to skip a lot of letters that are put before っす
ありがとうございます→あざーっす
こんにちは→ちわーっす
It can make the word very short, so a lot of young people use it as slang.
This is a way for young men to flex how cool they are but retain politeness. It’s not very pleasant and has an air of haughtiness. When I hear young men speak like this it sounds like they are dying to be on top but realize they are still socially under someone else in the conversation.
Here is a relevant explanation: https://meaning-book.com/blog/20190418170837.html
TLDR: contraction of です
It’s typically used as a male , super casual style. Strong males tend to avoid this style.