5 Ways To Turn Japanese Insults Into Compliments
Sometimes you really want to describe a negative characteristic of someone. At the same time, you don’t want to be insulting or hurt their feelings. You’re in luck, because it all comes down to making the proper word choice. Words that come close to what you want to say, but are much better for humanity.
5. 怠け者: lazy person
So you like to spend your weekends at home?
Polite replacement: のんびり屋さん (laid back person)
4. 不細工、ぶす: ugly person
No one wants to hear this, ever.
Polite replacement: 素朴 (simple, plain)
3. わがまま: selfish
For when its all about you.
Polite replacement: マイペース (someone who acts at their own pace)
2. つまらない: boring
We all can’t all be entertainers.
Polite replacement: 大人しい (quiet, mild)
1. 変: Strange
Let people be different.
Polite replacement: 個性的 (eccentric) or ユニーク (unique)
Now we’re all one step closer to love and peace
Any other ways you know of turning insults into compliments?
Founder of Jalup. iOS Software Engineer. Former attorney, translator, and interpreter. Still watching 月曜から夜ふかし weekly since 2013.
I love this article because it seems like a 本音・建前 dictionary. Do you have any thoughts on 適当 or 変わってる?
変わっている is slightly better than 変 but it still not polite or nice.
適当 has a bit of a different implication than 怠け者. It may even be worse. Usually a 適当な人 is thought of in a positive or negative way depending on the person.
Positive: Easy going, laid back
Negative: non serious, half-assed attitude
There is debate among Japanese people over it.