means very, really, so. . .Its usage seems to most closely resemble many English speakers' usage of the word so, as in ちょうかわいい!(So cute!), ちょうかっこいい(So cool--), ちょうおいしい、これ!(This tastes so good!). In other words, it's an effective way to emphasize a point.
I've met a few people here who have said that the younger generation overuses the word ちょう. The criticism is that relying on the word too much has led to the neglecting other equally effective words (i.e. synonyms and longer, descriptive phrases), inadvertantly decreasing the vocabulary pool of these our times. I don't know whether or not this generalization is accurate, but I do agree that
ちょう is more commonly used by younger people than their parents and grandparents.
For beginner to perhaps intermediate-level students, Japanese words, phrases, and expressions, as learned by an American living in Tokyo. . Some of it I absorbed from my surroundings--slang, abbreviated terms, or new katakana-ized words that have recently entered the Japanese language. Some words are straight-up conventional vocabulary that I've found helpful to know, either in the classroom (where I taught English) or in everyday life, and some words just make me smile.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
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おつかれやま!!! (In romaji, "Otsukareyama!!!" In kanji, お疲れ山?)
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