Tuesday, August 13, 2013

ぷたろ

ぷたろ = a deadbeat; a loafer; a sponger

I'm trying to suss out possible differences in connotation; it's hard for me to imagine that the original meaning of the word would have been anything but a putdown.  It was a slang term when I arrived to Japan, over a decade ago, and it seems still to be in common usage.  But now I often hear it used with a bit of affection, of endearment, perhaps not unlike our English term "slacker."

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おつかれやま!!! (In romaji, "Otsukareyama!!!" In kanji, お疲れ山?)

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