ブス
busu
The English phrase "you're ugly" is translated into Japanese as ブス (busu).
ブス is a highly offensive slang noun used to describe an unattractive person. In casual speech, it is often used as a noun to refer to a person rather than as an adjective.
Which one should you use?
For a formal context, you might see あなたは醜いです。 and for an informal context, one might use お前はブサイクだな。
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
ブス is considered slang. You can make the phrase grammatically complete and polite in form by saying ブスです, but note that the content of the insult remains extremely rude even with this polite grammatical structure.
How does it change in a sentence?
To make the insult a complete sentence in a polite form, you can add です to ブス to create ブスです.
How do you pronounce it?
busu
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers may mistakenly treat ブス as a standard adjective, such as kawaikunai (not cute), but it should be understood as a derogatory noun.
Did you know?
- The word ブス is borrowed from the English word 'bus'.
- Because Japanese avoids direct confrontation, people might instead say someone is 個性的 meaning 'unique' or 'individualistic' as a coded way to say they are ugly without using a word like ブス.
- Some Japanese people use the term ブス as a self-deprecating joke to describe themselves, which is a social strategy to prevent others from criticizing them first.
Examples in context
- あんなブス、見たことない。Anna busu, mita koto nai.I have never seen such an ugly person.
- ブスって言われた。Busu tte iwareta.I was called ugly.
- あの子はブスだね。Ano ko wa busu da ne.That girl is ugly, isn't she?
Example conversation
Misaki and Ren are arguing in a hallway.
- 美咲 Misakiあんたみたいなブスに言われたくない。Anta mitai na busu ni iwaretakunai.I don't want to hear that from someone ugly like you.
- 蓮 Renひどいな、言い過ぎだろ。Hidoi na, iisugi daro.That's mean, you're going too far.
- 美咲 Misaki事実を言っただけよ。Jijitsu o itta dake yo.I'm just stating the facts.
- 蓮 Renもういいよ、話にならない。Mō ii yo, hanashi ni naranai.Forget it, there's no point in talking.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ブス, CC BY-SA 4.0.
