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人気のアンガールズは「ナタリー」というお笑いDVDも出した。左が田中で右が山根。コンビ名の由来は、田中が「なよなよーっとしてるから『〜ガールズ』にしよう」と提案。しかし山根が「女ではない」と言うので、否定形の「un」をつけたことによる。（発売元・画像提供：TDKコア）
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Trendy Japanese #8:
Kimo-kawaii (pronounced as: kee-mou-kah-wah-ee) |
* 2005/10/5 配信 ALC Newsletter No.21(ALC
International Marketing 発行)より
* クリックできる語句には、語注がついています
If you have ever
learned Japanese, this adjective
"kimo-kawaii" may sound somewhat weird.
Yes, "kimo-kawaii" is a combination of two adjectives "kimochiwarui"
(disgusting)
and "kawaii" (pretty). So, "kimo-kawaii" is an adjective
that has two totally opposite meanings to, obviously, describe
something or someone that is both disgusting and pretty
at the same time! This new type of adjective is used among
younger generations, especially among high school girls,
for something or someone that "has got disgusting taste,
but can look pretty in
a way" --- quite
complicated, isn't it?
For those of you
who are thinking, "If something is disgusting, it's disgusting!
It can never be both disgusting and pretty," let me give
you some examples of the things that are kimo-kawaii. The
first one would be Beavis
and Butt-head. Although it's not clear when the word
"kimo-kawaii" became popular, some of Beavis' fans might
have used the word back in the 1990's to describe the characters.
Another example would be Dancing
Baby. Remember the 3-D
baby dancing with a stony
look on its face that was phenomenally
popular on the Internet? That could be described as both
disgusting and pretty --- well, in a way. Now you have an
idea of what "kimo-kawaii" means, right?
But above all, what has been considered as most "kimo-kawaii" recently is a comedy duo called "Ungirls." You might want to take a look at their website first to see what they actually look like...
http://www.watanabepro.co.jp/ungirls/
As you can see,
Ungirls is a duo of two guys, Tanaka and Yamane, who have
become popular within the last year. They are both quite
tall and skinny,
and not the type that can be described as "good-looking."
Some people even say that they look grotesque
--- but still, dressed in tight-shaped cool T-shirts and
jeans, they look funny and cute as if they were cartoon
characters. This is probably why they are considered not
just disgusting, but rather disgusting-and-pretty, "kimo-kawaii."
Other than "kimo-kawaii," we also have several adjectives that have been created in a similar way: "dasa-kakkoii" is a combination of the words "Dasai" (tacky) and "kakkoii" (cool), and is used for something or someone that has got tacky taste, usually on purpose, to give a novel and cool look. And "heta-uma", which is a combination of "heta" (not good) and "umai" (good), is often used for cartoons or illustrations that only look as good as children's drawings, but still attract people with their strong impressions.
It seems that the Japanese are pretty good at playing with words and are always making new terms. If you master these "combination-adjectives," such as "kimo-kawaii," it means you will be much closer to becoming a master of Japanese! But please be sure not to say, "You look kimo-kawaii. (You look both disgusting and pretty)" to a woman, unless you want your face slapped!
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