7 Unexpectedly Romantic Uses Of Omae (お前)
お前 (Omae) is the Japanese word for “you” that is considered very rude. You’ve seen it all over anime and action movies and you get it. Save it for your enemies. Otherwise don’t use it. Maybeee if you are being “one of the boys,” with a group of guy friends, you’ve heard it’s okay to use. But with a girl? You are better off not showering for a month and insulting her weight/age/clothing… Right?
It depends. First, depending on age and relationship, お前 isn’t necessarily the be all end all rude word. This also varies on region, where it actually isn’t bad at all. お前 isn’t てめぇ, which is the real ultimate rude you, which will rarely ever be used outside a confrontational situation.
However due to the confusion, and worry about being offensive, most foreigners will stay away from the word. But there is one situation that it has an incredibly powerful effect. Where it gives a bit of a rugged, protector, “will always be there for you” image. This is a narrow exception where you can really shine.
What is it?
Use お前 when you want to say something profoundly romantic to a women.
What?!
Turn rudeness into romance?
Sounds strange? Yes. But effective? Yes.
Below are seven common examples. The shorter the sentence, the more powerful the キュン (the feeling of your heart tightening up) so you’ll notice the length of the sentence decreases as you go down the list. Now go ahead. Try them out!
(Note to the women readers: お前 use does not work in reverse. The phrases are still highly usable, but you need to replace お前 with the guy’s name).
7. お前に出会ったから人生が捨てたもんじゃないと思った。
Because I met you, I realized my life wasn’t a waste.
6. お前以上な女性にはもう出会わないだろう。
I probably will never meet a woman better than you.
5. お前がいるとなんだって楽しい。
When you’re around, everything is fun.
4. お前がいなきゃありえない。
There’s no way I can imagine you not being around.
3. お前じゃなきゃ駄目だ。
It has to be you (talking about someone to be together with)
2. お前マジで最高!
You really are the best.
1. お前しかいない!
There’s no one but you.
However, just a reminder: always be cautious. Depending on age and upbringing, not everyone will take the お前 in the same way. But if you use it in the right way, with the right person, in the right situation, please invite me to the wedding.
Founder of Jalup. iOS Software Engineer. Former attorney, translator, and interpreter. Still watching 月曜から夜ふかし weekly since 2013.
“お前 isn’t てめぇ, which is the real ultimate rude you, which will rarely ever be used outside a confrontational situation.” Are there “legitimate” instances where it’s proper to use it?
Not really. I suppose if you legitimately want to start a fight?
There might be a tiny local dialect out there somewhere that still uses 手前, which is where てめぇ comes from.
But none in present day (手前 is very old usage) that I’ve ever heard so I’d say that’s a long shot.
I always thought that お前 can’t be that bad. I knew that you shouldn’t use it all too often but the typical English speaking Japanese Forum (famous for doing nothing but complaining how incredible Japanese/Japanese people are) almost forbid to use it. I quite understand why people are warned of that but everyone who reads manga or whatever will understand that お前 isn’t the word that you should use too often. Now I have the evidence that お前 can be used as well. I thought that, really, but these forums that I visited in the beginner stage have somehow made a blockade in my mind. Now I’ve learned something new: Trust your experiences and not people that hang out the whole day in a forum that is meant to be about Japanese (but actually isn’t).
You know my thoughts on forums!
http://japaneselevelup.com/japanese-study-forums-fearsome-foe-or-amicable-ally/
http://japaneselevelup.com/beware-of-japanese-study-in-disguise-the-in-about-ratio/
But yes, お前 has real uses outside of anime. It just takes time to learn the when, where, and who.