In English, there are a great number of words and phrases that rhyme with themselves, such as “topsy-turvy”, “wishy-washy” and “lovey-dovey”. And funnily enough, it turns out that some of these phrases happen to rhyme in Japanese too, e.g. the translation of “topsy-turvy” is “滅茶苦茶 (めちゃくちゃ, mecha-kucha)” and the one of “wishy-washy” is “うじうじする (uji-uji suru)”. This article provides a list of such words and phrases that coincidentally rhyme in those two completely different languages!
Table of Contents
うじうじ [+する]
En: “wishy-washy”
うじうじする (or ウジウジする) is a casual Japanese word that basically means “be wishy-washy”. In particular, it is often used to describe a wishy-washy man who is too indecisive to make an action, and/or too scared to say something straightforwardly to others. It also describes someone who dwells on the past and cannot move on.
You can use うじうじ as a suru-verb or adverb. To modify a noun, you can say “use うじうじした + Noun”, or use other adjectives such as “女々しい (めめしい)” meaning “effeminate”.
Example
ウジウジするのはやめて、彼女をデートに誘いなよ？
Why don’t you stop being wishy-washy and ask her out?
将来についてウジウジ悩んでも仕方がない。
It doesn’t help to worry about your future in a wishy-washy way.
ウジウジした男は嫌いだ
I hate wishy-washy men.
ラブラブ (+する, +な)
En: “lovey-dovey”
ラブラブ literally means “love-love” and humorously describes a sweet couple who are very intimate with each other. It usually contains a rather positive meaning, but it can also be used negatively or ironically. Among teens, it is also used to mock a couple of people who are not in a relationship but very close to each other. Instead of ラブラブ, some old people use “アツアツ” to describe a lovey-dovey couple, as in “アツアツの夫婦” (“a lovey-dovey married couple), but it is regarded as 死語 (しご), i.e. an outdated expression (but you may still use it as a joke).
Example
彼と彼女、いつも手をつないでいてラブラブだよね。
He and she always hold hands together and are lovey-dovey/so intimate.
お前らラブラブだなー、付き合っちゃえよ！
You are so lovey-dovey, why don’t you become a couple?
さっき、アツアツの若いアベックが公園でキスしているのを見たぞ
I just saw a lovey-dovey young couple kissing in the park.
(* アベック is a very old-fashioned word meaning “a couple”. It is loaned from the French word “avec”, meaning “with”.)
グチャグチャ (+な)
En: “mishmash/hotchpotch”
グチャグチャ describes a messy place, like a wardrobe of disorganised people. It is used either as an adjective (グチャグチャな/グチャグチャだ) meaning “be a mishmash/hotchpotch” or adverb (グチャグチャに) meaning “higgledy-piggledy”.
Similar to グチャグチャ, the phrase “ゴチャゴチャ” also describes a messy state. The slight difference is that グチャグチャ is more like “mashed/mixed/crumpled” (e.g. グチャグチャな紙 = “crumpled paper”), while ゴチャゴチャ is more like “busy/scattered/disorganised” (e.g. ゴチャゴチャした通り= “busy street with many buildings and signboards”). Another difference is that グチャグチャ can also describe something soggy/muddy, while ゴチャゴチャ can describe an overly complicated story.
Example
私の衣装戸棚は違う季節の服でグチャグチャだ/ゴチャゴチャしている。
My wardrobe is a mishmash/hodgepodge of clothes from different seasons.
全てを箱にグチャグチャに詰め込んだ。
I put everything, higgledy-piggledy, into the boxes.
新宿駅の周辺は非常にゴチャゴチャしている。
The area around Shinjuku station is very messy (crowned with many kinds of buildings and people).
グダグダ (+する)
En: “dilly-dally”
グダグダ(する) means “spend time in an aimless way” and is often abbreviated as “グダる” among young people. There is also a very similar sounding and meaning word “グズグズする”, which means “(someone’s behaviour is) very slow/do not act quickly/procrastinate things”.
There is also a similar word, ずるずる(と), which means “to keep doing things indecisively (e.g. not because you really want to, but rather you can’t be bothered to bite the bullet and discontinue)”. For instance, ずるずると付き合う means “be in a relationship with someone (without much passion)”.
Example
YouTubeを見ながらグダグダしてたら (＝グダッてたら)、もう夜になっているのに気づいた。
I was dilly-dallying with watching Youtube and realised that it was night already.
グズグズしていると、置いていくからね。
If you are slow (don’t get ready soon), I will leave you.
パラパラ
En: “pitter-patter”
パラパラ is an onomatopoeia that describes the sound of light rain, like “pitter-patter”. However, unlike pitter-patter, パラパラ is not used to describe the sound of light steps, as in “pitter-patter of tiny feet”
Example
パラパラと小雨が降ってきた。
It started raining a bit (with the sound of the pitter-patter of rain.)
See also: 20 Japanese Words, Idioms and Onomatopoeia Related to Rain (雨, ame)
滅茶苦茶
En: “topsy-turvy”
滅茶苦茶 (めちゃくちゃ), or “めちゃめちゃ” means “chaotic; unreasonable’ insane; topsy-turvy”. Basically, you can describe something as “滅茶苦茶” when you find it chaotic and totally messed up. If you replace the first character 滅 with 無, it becomes another word “無茶苦茶 (むちゃくちゃ)”; basically, it means “unreasonable; unrealistic; illogical; ridiculous”, but sometimes it is used interchangeably with 滅茶苦茶. Both 無茶苦茶 and 滅茶苦茶 are also written in hiragana sometimes.
This might confuse you a little bit, but young people also use 滅茶苦茶 as an intensifier like “とても (very)”, e.g. “めちゃくちゃ美味しい” means “so/very tasty”. In this case, it is usually written in hiragana.
Example
急に犬が家の中に入って走り回ったので、部屋が滅茶苦茶になった
Suddenly a dog came into our house and ran around, and made our room totally messed up.
彼に私の人生滅茶苦茶にされた
My life was totally f*cked up (turned topsy-turvy) by him.
無茶苦茶な提案をしないで下さい。
Please don’t make an unreasonable/unrealistic proposal.
それ、めちゃくちゃ嫌なんだけど
I really hate it.
ガバガバ (+の, +な)
En: “loosey-goosey”
ガバガバ is a very casual slang word that means “loosey-goosy”. It is used to describe loosey-goosey rules, restrictions, security, etc. as well as something very loose physically.
Example
ガバガバ{な or の}セキュリティー/法律
loosey-goosey security/law
余裕のよっちゃん
En: “easy-peasy”
余裕のよっちゃん, although it’s not quite a rhyming phrase, is a very old-fashioned expression that means “easy-peasy” or “piece of a cake”. The word 余裕 (よゆう) means “very easy”, and よっちゃん has no meaning here; it just makes a rhyme/pun (よっちゃん is a common nickname for someone whose name starts from よ, e.g. よしこ). It is considered as one of the old-fashioned expressions that represent the 昭和 (Shōwa) era (1926-1989).
See also: 昭和の匂い (‘Smell of Shōwa’): Origin of ‘Shōwa Era’ and Relevant Idioms Explained
Example
この文、英語に翻訳出来る？
Can you translate this sentence into English?
そんなの余裕のよっちゃんだよ
Yep, that’s easy-peasy/is a piece of cake.
ちんぷんかんぷん
En: “mumbo jumbo; be all Greek”
ちんぷんかんぷん is used to describe something that is too difficult/complicated to understand. For instance, if you attend an academic conference or seminar that is not relevant to your area at all, most of the presentations would be ちんんぷんかんぷん to you. It also has a kanji form, “珍紛漢紛”, but is rarely used.
Example
彼の話は私にはちんぷんかんぷんだった。
His story was mumbo jumbo/all Greek to me
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