I come from a country where moderate to small amounts are super common in daily language but I’ve found it just feels like lying in Japanese without any real way to convey that this is intended to be a joke
There are some phrases that get used sarcastically, and replying with extra keigo when it’s not needed can be used to express sarcasm among friends. But in general I find the average Japanese person doesn’t pick up a foreigner’s sarcasm (especially when trying to directly translate from English to Japanese)
An example: your friend gets a new boy/girlfriend and has been gushing to you all about it, going into more detail than you would like to hear. You can reply ごちそうさま to them as a sarcastic way to say that you’ve heard enough about it
It falls flat. And I’m way too sarcastic and haven’t learned
try emphasizing the tones or punctuation? make it more obvious to non-natives
The closest you get here is わざと but its not the same raw, slightly offensive and rude humour one would expect. Hence the reason people here find the Kyoto nuances impossible to see coming, they are masters of Japanese cryptic sarcasm.
Sarcasm really isn’t a thing in Japanese. Or maybe it’s fair to say the way to use it is really different from (for example) English.
As you have discovered, it is not an effective tool to lighten the mood or to “poke fun” at each other in a way to strengthen bonds. It really doesn’t work in many cases. There is a different way to effectively frame issues, express modest dissatisfaction, jokingly pull someone’s leg, etc. in Japanese.
I would suggest just putting your sarcasm into a mental safe, and close the door for a while. Pull it out much later when you have build up enough observations about when and how to use it (very lightly, very rarely).
best way to get your feet wet is to use ”凄くいいね” in response to things that that youre not really impressed with.
A: 田中さんがくれたシャーツどうだった？
B： 大好きなピンクで凄くいい・・ 再来年着るかも・・
nihongo jouzu
I tone it so what I’m saying is obviously intended to be a joke, people recognize it most of the time
Japanese actually use sarcasm a lot and quite well.
I hope you can actually use sarcasm well. Please don’t be one of those annoying foreigners who thinks they’re good at it but just come across as moody teenagers.
Japan has been a relief to be away from that lot.
There are plenty of ways to be sarcastic in Japanese, and some are similar to LA and some are culturally bound.
Be persistent! My MIL got it after a while
your nihongo is jouzun’t yet
watch some getsuyo yofukashi on youtube to learn more
Sarcasm is a really nuanced, native thing in any language
I’d put forward that if your Japanese isn’t good enough to know how to make sarcasm, you shouldn’t be trying.
Like others here mention, it isn’t really the same thing here and will usually fall flat, is what I’ve found. Instead, try for silly oyaji-like jokes until you get more natural in the language
You cant use your sarcasm in Japan because culture.
Just like how I will never find American sarcasm funny but I find British sarcasm hilarious.
You got to plug into the culture before using sarcasm.
It works. You just have to be actually funny and in tune with comedic timing and subtlety, not just a pithy sarcastic little twat.
If you go for pure ironic jokes, like ‘kirei ne’ and point at some trash, it always is understood. Observational humor style.
It’s only because people couch their sarcasm in overly obscure ways that they don’t get a reaction. I’ve learned to not do that.
You don’t seriously
You have play up/down the tone and the value as if you are pretending to be a different characters. Basically if you are dramatic, people will know you are joking. Deadpen usually won’t work unless your Japanese is at a native level.
Recently I watched videos about Kyotoites. Maybe one could learn sarcastic Japanese from them, but not for comedy of course 😂
You have to dial back the natural English sarcasm, but you can for sure be sarcastic in certain situations. It just comes off more dry than comedic.
Come live in Kyoto, especially between Nijo and Shijo, and you will learn from the best.
When you’re blamed for something you didn’t do, after explaining what happened and who’s at fault, you may end your tirade with a big sumimasen deshita, emphasis on the deshita.
That’s like asking how you say しょうがない in English.
You… don’t. You fix what needs to be fixed.
English language students can get it through tone in English, but you’re not going to convey it in Japanese.
It’s all about the tone and dead pan.
> **How does one successfully convey sarcasm in 日本語？**
1st step is to make sure your language ability is at a level that allows you to do so successfully, then it will be natural
I very DISTINCTLY remember the first time I registered someone being sarcastic towards me in Japanese 😂 He was being a right cheeky prick, but I was happy regardless because I realised I’d picked up on it despite the subtlety and the “innocent” smile on his smarmy face lol
We know everyone here tells you that your nihongo is ojyouzuu, but if you aren’t registering the sarcasm around you, and to you, then I’m afraid we need to inform you that they are, in fact, lying to you (or being sarcastic 😆 badum tissssss)
*cloudy, might rain on photoshoot day*
いいてんきな…
*chortle response*
If you’re not at the level where you’re recognising the sarcasm Japanese people use, you shouldn’t try to do it on your own.
It works differently and is signalled differently.
Unless you are with close friends (coworkers you get along well with usually don’t fit this description here), it often just comes off as mocking and pretty rude. Better to just avoid it unless you know for sure the person you are using it on is ok.
日本語お上手ですね
> How does one successfully convey sarcasm in 日本語？
Sarcastically, of course. How else would you do it?
Whenever I get jouzued, I reply with sasuga watashi ne?
Even that I only get away with because it is something a Japanese person would never say, and it sounds super weird, but somehow just fits the persona of a foreigner while also being obviously sarcastic in a complimentary, self deprecating sort of way.
Step one is get really good at the language. If you’re understood to be not very good at the language, anything you say will be taken literally.
I use sarcasm in Japanese all the time. It feels different though depending on when. If I’m being a dick like , ‘おーー！じょーーーずですねーー！’ it’s obviously somewhat mocking and that is clearly understood (I mean in a light ribbing fashion, and not to strangers).
Other times it’s like when I make a mistake completely unrelated to Japanese I say, ‘日本語難しいっすね〜’ and they know it’s sarcasm.
But wait is that sarcasm? Wtf is sarcasm anyway?
Bruh just git gud at japanese and you’ll git gud at japanese humor which is probably different from English. Gonna sound like a brag but I’m at the point where I can’t distinguish because I do it naturally in either language.
I’m the wrong person to comment here. Damn it. I’m leaving.
Sarcasm gets taken the wrong way sometimes . Also Ball breaking doesn’t work , usually leads to a fight unless your like really really close
How good’s your JPN? Sarcasm can lose it sarcastic nature with an accent, and sarcasm can lose it’s meaning in text as is quite apparent in texts(which shouldn’t be in any business documents that could be subpoenaed in the first place)
If that’s the case you might be behind the 8ball. but it could also bite you in the ass. Apparently, to my wife, everything I say is with sarcasm she can’t tell if I really mean it.
Me: Wow, that was really good. I’d eat that again. Wife: Are you being serious or your usual self? Me: …try this on for size. DEADPAN “I love you”
Question, if for example I enter a humongous room and say 狭いね, is it that Japanese won’t understand and think I’m serious?
I would say it has to be really blatant. The kind of subtle sarcasm many people in the west do might not be recognized as sarcasm in Japanese and someone might think you’re being serious even though you are not
38 comments
You don’t
There are some phrases that get used sarcastically, and replying with extra keigo when it’s not needed can be used to express sarcasm among friends. But in general I find the average Japanese person doesn’t pick up a foreigner’s sarcasm (especially when trying to directly translate from English to Japanese)
An example: your friend gets a new boy/girlfriend and has been gushing to you all about it, going into more detail than you would like to hear. You can reply ごちそうさま to them as a sarcastic way to say that you’ve heard enough about it
It falls flat. And I’m way too sarcastic and haven’t learned
try emphasizing the tones or punctuation? make it more obvious to non-natives
The closest you get here is わざと but its not the same raw, slightly offensive and rude humour one would expect. Hence the reason people here find the Kyoto nuances impossible to see coming, they are masters of Japanese cryptic sarcasm.
Sarcasm really isn’t a thing in Japanese. Or maybe it’s fair to say the way to use it is really different from (for example) English.
As you have discovered, it is not an effective tool to lighten the mood or to “poke fun” at each other in a way to strengthen bonds. It really doesn’t work in many cases. There is a different way to effectively frame issues, express modest dissatisfaction, jokingly pull someone’s leg, etc. in Japanese.
I would suggest just putting your sarcasm into a mental safe, and close the door for a while. Pull it out much later when you have build up enough observations about when and how to use it (very lightly, very rarely).
best way to get your feet wet is to use ”凄くいいね” in response to things that that youre not really impressed with.
A: 田中さんがくれたシャーツどうだった？
B： 大好きなピンクで凄くいい・・ 再来年着るかも・・
nihongo jouzu
I tone it so what I’m saying is obviously intended to be a joke, people recognize it most of the time
Japanese actually use sarcasm a lot and quite well.
I hope you can actually use sarcasm well. Please don’t be one of those annoying foreigners who thinks they’re good at it but just come across as moody teenagers.
Japan has been a relief to be away from that lot.
There are plenty of ways to be sarcastic in Japanese, and some are similar to LA and some are culturally bound.
Be persistent! My MIL got it after a while
your nihongo is jouzun’t yet
watch some getsuyo yofukashi on youtube to learn more
Sarcasm is a really nuanced, native thing in any language
I’d put forward that if your Japanese isn’t good enough to know how to make sarcasm, you shouldn’t be trying.
Like others here mention, it isn’t really the same thing here and will usually fall flat, is what I’ve found. Instead, try for silly oyaji-like jokes until you get more natural in the language
You cant use your sarcasm in Japan because culture.
Just like how I will never find American sarcasm funny but I find British sarcasm hilarious.
You got to plug into the culture before using sarcasm.
It works. You just have to be actually funny and in tune with comedic timing and subtlety, not just a pithy sarcastic little twat.
If you go for pure ironic jokes, like ‘kirei ne’ and point at some trash, it always is understood. Observational humor style.
It’s only because people couch their sarcasm in overly obscure ways that they don’t get a reaction. I’ve learned to not do that.
You don’t seriously
You have play up/down the tone and the value as if you are pretending to be a different characters. Basically if you are dramatic, people will know you are joking. Deadpen usually won’t work unless your Japanese is at a native level.
Recently I watched videos about Kyotoites. Maybe one could learn sarcastic Japanese from them, but not for comedy of course 😂
You have to dial back the natural English sarcasm, but you can for sure be sarcastic in certain situations. It just comes off more dry than comedic.
Come live in Kyoto, especially between Nijo and Shijo, and you will learn from the best.
When you’re blamed for something you didn’t do, after explaining what happened and who’s at fault, you may end your tirade with a big sumimasen deshita, emphasis on the deshita.
That’s like asking how you say しょうがない in English.
You… don’t. You fix what needs to be fixed.
English language students can get it through tone in English, but you’re not going to convey it in Japanese.
It’s all about the tone and dead pan.
> **How does one successfully convey sarcasm in 日本語？**
1st step is to make sure your language ability is at a level that allows you to do so successfully, then it will be natural
I very DISTINCTLY remember the first time I registered someone being sarcastic towards me in Japanese 😂 He was being a right cheeky prick, but I was happy regardless because I realised I’d picked up on it despite the subtlety and the “innocent” smile on his smarmy face lol
We know everyone here tells you that your nihongo is ojyouzuu, but if you aren’t registering the sarcasm around you, and to you, then I’m afraid we need to inform you that they are, in fact, lying to you
(or being sarcastic 😆 badum tissssss)
*cloudy, might rain on photoshoot day*
いいてんきな…
*chortle response*
If you’re not at the level where you’re recognising the sarcasm Japanese people use, you shouldn’t try to do it on your own.
It works differently and is signalled differently.
Unless you are with close friends (coworkers you get along well with usually don’t fit this description here), it often just comes off as mocking and pretty rude. Better to just avoid it unless you know for sure the person you are using it on is ok.
日本語お上手ですね
> How does one successfully convey sarcasm in 日本語？
Sarcastically, of course. How else would you do it?
Whenever I get jouzued, I reply with sasuga watashi ne?
Even that I only get away with because it is something a Japanese person would never say, and it sounds super weird, but somehow just fits the persona of a foreigner while also being obviously sarcastic in a complimentary, self deprecating sort of way.
Step one is get really good at the language. If you’re understood to be not very good at the language, anything you say will be taken literally.
I use sarcasm in Japanese all the time. It feels different though depending on when. If I’m being a dick like
, ‘おーー！じょーーーずですねーー！’ it’s obviously somewhat mocking and that is clearly understood (I mean in a light ribbing fashion, and not to strangers).
Other times it’s like when I make a mistake completely unrelated to Japanese I say, ‘日本語難しいっすね〜’ and they know it’s sarcasm.
But wait is that sarcasm? Wtf is sarcasm anyway?
Bruh just git gud at japanese and you’ll git gud at japanese humor which is probably different from English. Gonna sound like a brag but I’m at the point where I can’t distinguish because I do it naturally in either language.
I’m the wrong person to comment here. Damn it. I’m leaving.
Sarcasm gets taken the wrong way sometimes . Also Ball breaking doesn’t work , usually leads to a fight unless your like really really close
How good’s your JPN? Sarcasm can lose it sarcastic nature with an accent, and sarcasm can lose it’s meaning in text as is quite apparent in texts(which shouldn’t be in any business documents that could be subpoenaed in the first place)
If that’s the case you might be behind the 8ball. but it could also bite you in the ass.
Apparently, to my wife, everything I say is with sarcasm she can’t tell if I really mean it.
Me: Wow, that was really good. I’d eat that again.
Wife: Are you being serious or your usual self?
Me: …try this on for size. DEADPAN “I love you”
Question, if for example I enter a humongous room and say 狭いね, is it that Japanese won’t understand and think I’m serious?
I would say it has to be really blatant. The kind of subtle sarcasm many people in the west do might not be recognized as sarcasm in Japanese and someone might think you’re being serious even though you are not