mou もう

In Japanese, mou もう means various things. It can mean something "already" happened; that "by now" it's somehow; we'll do it "just" a little more; we're "about" to do it "soon;" we'll do something "again;" or never "anymore;" or there's "another" of something; or it can interjection used to express frustration when you've had enough; or even to express confidence on how things are going.

Manga: Hikaru no Go ヒカルの碁 (Chapter 4)

• "Further"
  
  • "One More Time!"
  • "Again"
  • "Another"
    
    • もう一つ
  • "Just One More"
• "Already"
  
  • "Now"
  • "Already So Soon?"
  • "Too Late"
  • "Anymore"
  • これでもう
  • もう二度と会えない
• "Soon"
  
  • "Almost"
  • "Already Soon"
    
    • もうすぐ
    • もうじき
    • もうそろそろ
• Interjection
  
  • ああもう！
    
    • もう〇〇ったら
  • それはもう！
• vs. も

madao マダオ

In Japanese, madao マダオ is an abbreviation of marude dame na ossan まるでダメなオッさん, meaning "completely useless old man." It's not a Japanese word, actually, but a running joke used in the manga and anime Gintama 銀魂, said by Kagura 神楽 about Hasegawa Taizou 長谷川 泰三.

Manga: Gintama 銀魂 (Chapter 16)

• jaa ne
  じゃーね
  [See ya later].
• marude dame na ossan
  まるでダメなオッさん
  Completely useless old man.
• ryaku shite, madao!
  略して　マダオ！
  Abbreviate it: MADAO!

For people who know nothing about Japanese, but watch too much anime, the exchange above may be difficult to understand linguistically for a number of reasons. Fortunately, this is a blog about explaining those reasons.

• ま vs. マ
• "As if" vs. "Completely"
• Useless?
• Old man?

Omae wa Mou Shindeiru

If you're in an anime community, you might have seen the following meme already: omae wa mou shindeiru, or omae wa mou shinderu, followed by someone saying nani?! So, in case you're wondering what the hell are these weebs memeing about, it's a line from the manga and anime Fist of the North Star, Hokuto no Ken 北斗の拳.

Here's the translation:

Manga: Fist of the North Star, Hokuto no Ken 北斗の拳 (Chapter 1)

• omae wa mou shinderu.........
  おまえはもう死んでる･････････
  You're already dead.
• nanii~~!?
  なにィ～～！？
  Whattt!?

Note that shinderu しんでる is an abbreviation of shinde-iru しんでいる, the te-iru form of shinu 死ぬ, "to die," which is why some people say omae wa mou shindeiru お前はもうしんでいる instead.

Also note that there are differences between the magazine version, the complete edition, and the anime version. So it's likely the phrase has appeared as both shinderu and shindeiru sometime, making both perfectly correct.

まあいい, maa ii - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, maa ii まあいい is an expression used when the speaker doesn't care about something anymore and wants to change the subject of the conversation or go back doing what's actually important. In a sense, it means "whatever."

It's also spelled maa ii まぁいい, maa ii まーいい.

Manga: Gabriel DropOut, Gavuriiru Doroppuauto ガヴリールドロップアウト (Chapter 5)

• Usage
  • まあいいか

まあまあ, maa maa - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, maa maa まあまあ, also spelled maa maa まぁまぁ, maa maa まーまー, is, literally, the word maa まあ twice. So, as you might guess, maa maa is twice as maa as just one maa.

Besides having double maa-ness in it, maa maa is also used in ways maa isn't used, like to say something is "neither good nor bad," or to tell people to "calm down."

Not to be confused with mama まま, "the way it is," or mama ママ, a word for "mother" in Japanese.

Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi 鋼の錬金術師 (Chapter 4)

• Calm Down
• "Neither Good nor Bad"
• まぁ Twice

まあ, maa - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, maa まあ, maa まぁ, or maa まー, is an interjection and adverb that can be used in various ways.

Manga: Rozen Maiden (Chapter 10)

• As Interjection
• As Adverb

～といい, -to-ii - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, to ii といい means literally "if [something then] good." It's used to say something would be good if it happened, or if it were. It's the combination of the conditional particle to と, plus the i-adjective ii いい.

Don't mistake this for to iimasu といいます, which means "[something] is called [something]," or "my name is [something]."

Manga: "Assassination Classroom," Ansatsu Kyoushitsu 暗殺教室 (Chapter 1)

• Grammar
• だといいな
• Examples
• 殺せるといいですねぇ
• 宿に泊まるといい

～するがいい, -suru ga ii - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, suru ga ii するがいい, or any verb plus ga ii, means literally "it's better to do [something]."

In anime, however, it's pretty much always used by evil-looking characters who're full of themselves to pretentiously tell someone "do this, I allow you to do," a permission, or "it's better you do so," which sounds like an order.

In either case, ga ii is often not translated to English at all.

Manga: Gabriel DropOut, Gavuriiru Doroppuauto ガヴリールドロップアウト (Chapter 3)

• Explanation
• Examples
• 恐怖するがいい
• 蒸発するがいい
• 吸い込むがいい
• 哀願してくるがいい

いいこと, ii-koto - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, ii koto いいこと means literally a "good thing," but it's also used, in female speech, as an interjection to call somebody's attention before telling them something.

It's also spelled ii koto いい事, 良いこと, 良い事, 好いこと, or 好い事. A variant is yoi koto よいこと, よい事.

Manga: Rozen Maiden (chapter 9)

• Normal Usage
• Usage in Female Speech
• 悪いこと

仲がいい, Naka ga ii - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, naka ga ii 仲がいい means somebody is in good terms with somebody else, that they're friends, colleagues, that they have a "good relationship." Literally, it's the word naka 仲, "relationship," plus the i-adjective ii いい, "good," so it means "relationship is good."

It's also spelled naka ga ii 仲がいい. A synonymous variant is naka ga yoi 仲がよい. The homonym naka ga ii 中がいい means "inside is good" instead.

• Usage
• 仲が悪い
• Grammar
• 仲が良かった
• 仲のいい
• 仲良し
• 仲が良さそう
• 仲良く
• 仲良くなる
• 仲良くする
• 仲直り
• 仲違い
• Expression for "Sex"

運がいい, Un ga ii - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, un ga ii 運がいい means someone is "lucky," that they have "good luck." Literally, un 運 means "luck" and the i-adjective ii いい means "good," but the phrase grammatically means "luck is good" rather than "good luck."

It's also spelled un ga ii 運が良い. A synonymous variant is un ga yoi 運がよい.

• Usage
• 運が悪い
• Grammar
• 運が良かった
• 運のいい
• 運の良さ

頭がいい, Atama ga ii - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, atama ga ii 頭がいい means someone is "smart," "intelligent," has "good brains." It's a phrase containing atama 頭, "head," the body part, and the i-adjective ii いい, "good." So it literally means "head is good."

It's also spelled atama ga ii 頭が良い. A synonymous variant is atama ga yoi 頭がよい.

Manga: Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~Tensai-Tachi no Ren'ai Zunousen~ かぐや様は告らせたい～天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦～ (Chapter 9)

• Usage
• 頭が悪い
• Grammar
• 頭はいい
• 頭のいい
• 頭いい
• 頭の良さ
• 頭が良さそう

いい度胸, ii-dokyou - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, ii-dokyou いい度胸 is generally used to say someone has "dared" to go against someone else, or had the "nerve" to do something.

Manga: Fist of the North Star, Hokuto no Ken 北斗の拳 (Chapter 1)

• Usage
• いい度胸してる
• いい度胸じゃねぇか

いい加減, ii-kagen - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, ii-kagen いい加減 means literally that something is at a "good degree." However, most of the time, in anime, you'll see it as ii kagen ni shiro いい加減にしろ and phrases alike, which mean "STOP DOING THAT >:(", "CUT IT OUT!!!", "GIVE IT A REST" and so on.

Manga: Zatch Bell! / Konjiki no Gasshu!! 金色のガッシュ!! (Chapter 5)

• Literal Meaning
• いい加減にしろ
• Explanation
• Variants
• "Stop Doing That"
• "Cut It Out"
• "Give It a Rest"
• いい加減に
• いい加減 Alone
• いい加減な
• Pitch Accent
• いい加減な人

カッコつけて, Kakko-tsukete - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, kakko-tsukete カッコつけて means "to show off," to try to look "cool," kakkoii カッコいい. It's specially used when someone does something in front of someone else in order to impress them. And it's often used to critique someone for trying to look cool but looking lame instead because they're trying too hard.

• Variants
• Usage
• Conjugation
• カッコつけてる
• 何カッコつけてんの？
• カッコつけ
• カッコつけやがって