4 awesomely useful Japanese words...

One of the useful aspects of the Japanese language is the fact that sometimes, less is more. That is, often adjectives on their own can be used to convey a whole sentences worth of meaning. If you want to comment on how cold you are, or how cold the weather is you can just say "samuii" which means "cold". Similarly, when it's hot you can just say "hot" (atsuii). The upshot of this means that there are some words you can learn which means you can then contribute to any conversations in Japanese, with great effect. Below are a couple you can bandy about which - if employed with enough head nodding - should convince any Japanese person that you have the faintest idea what they're on about (hmm...I hope Anna doesn't read this)

1) Uso - false
If you suspect someone is telling porky pies, then "uso" is the word for you. You can say it with scorn for a "bollocks is it" type effect, or in a shocked voice for a "I don't believe it!" scenario. For the latter, preferred pronunciation is to fire it out of the mouth as quickly as possible so it sounds more a violent cough than a word. For the former, you can drag it out for maximum aggravation thanks to the handy "oh" phoneme at the end. A similar word is "honto" - true; this a bit milder though (like saying "oh really") and therefore is exponentially less fun.

2) Yappari - as I thought, just as I expected
What better way to withering deride someone's failure that you fully anticipated before hand than to simply utter a single word of contempt? Use after anyone says anything and you can pretty much guarantee impotent futile rage. Imagine someone saying "but of course you did" after you mention an error and you're pretty much there. I say and hear this word probably more than any other on this list

3) Sugoi - cool, excellent, high quality
If you watch anyJapanese TV, this is the word you'll come away with. Whereas English speakers might choose several different superlatives to describe something (e.g. "wow Chris that blog entry was amazing, stupendous, fantastical!"), Japanese people tend to say the same word over and over again, getting more and more excited each time. So when anything cool is demonstated on TV, anyone witnessing it is bound to express "sugoi! sugoi! su-goi!" If they're girls, best cover your ears - it can occasionally reach dog-bothering frequencies.

4) Daijobu - everything ok (?)
This is such an incredibly useful word that it probably deserves it's own blog entry It's the Japanese equivalent of "ok" or "it's ok" so you can use it for EVERYTHING. Someone falls over in front of you? Ask them "daijobu?". Someone offers you a flyer in the street? Shake your head and say "daijobu". What to know if you allowed to wear your shoes in a building? Point at your feet and say "daijobu?". Just accidentally backhanded your child in a lesson whilst flailing to the Hello Song? Well, actually don't ask them "daijobu" because then every other student will go apeshit crazy bonkers when they realise you can speak Japanese and you'll end up having to call in the staff to give them some tranquilisers. Probably a good idea to ask their fuming mother though, or the paramedics once they've cleared up the worst of the mess.