誤爆 (gobaku, “accidental explosion”) Means “Wrong Chat” in Japanese Slang

Definition of Gobaku

Originally, 誤爆 (ごばく, gobaku) means “accidental explosion/bombing”. As a slang word, however, it also means “Opps, wrong chat”, i.e. the act of inadvertently sending a message to a wrong chat/person. This fiasco usually takes place on a messaging app like LINE/Messenger, and the accident on LINE is called “LINE  誤爆”, for instance. It could also happen on social media like Twitter when you have multiple accounts and behave like a different person in each account. A common example of it is when famous people inadvertently share a post about their very private life (e.g. photos of their secret partner) on their official account instead of their private/secret one.

Gobaku on Purpose

Apparently, some people do “fake gobaku” to confess their feelings to their crush. Let’s say you have a crush on a girl named Ana; to reveal your feelings for her, you send her a “wrong chat” such as “I’m so in love with Ana! Do you know whether she has a boyfriend?”, pretending that you’ve “accidentally” sent the message to her instead of your friend. While some websites recommend this as an “effective approach” to have your crush interested in you, many people clearly find it quite obvious, awkward and pathetic.

Example Sentences

Ex1:
LINEで誤爆してめちゃ恥はずかしかった
I texted a wrong person on LINE. It was so embarrassing.

Ex2:
あの女性じょせいアイドルがTwitterで誤爆して彼氏かれしの写真しゃしんをアップしてしまった
The female idol accidentally uploaded the photos of her boyfriend using a wrong account on Twitter.

Ex3

(when you text a wrong person)
あなた: 明日暇あしたひま？
あなた: 誤爆した
YOU: Hey, are you free tomorrow?
YOU: Oops, wrong chat

Ex4: (original usage)
手榴弾しゅりゅうだんが車くるまの中なかで誤爆した
A grenade has accidentally exploded inside the car.

Ex5: (original usage)
我々われわれの船ふねを敵てきと間違まちがえて誤爆してしまった
We’ve accidentally bombed our ships, which we mistakenly recognized as the enemy’s.

See also

炎上 (enjou) Meaning “Come Under Fire” in Japanese

炎上 (enjou) Meaning “Come Under Fire” in Japanese