Monday, March 9, 2020

doyagao どや顔

In Japanese, doyagao どや顔 refers to someone's facial expression when they're proud of themselves, of their own ability or work. It's generally a smug, triumphant grin of self-satisfaction.

It's also spelled doyagao ドヤ顔.

Yazawa Niko 矢澤にこ, example of doyagao どや顔.
Character: Yazawa Niko 矢澤にこ
Anime: Love Live! School Idol Project (Episode 10)

Meaning

The word doyagao どや顔 is formed by:
  1. doya
    どや
    An expression from the Kansai 関西 region of Japan, which translates into standard Japanese as dou da どうだ.
    • dou da
      どう
      Literally "how is [it]?" Phrase used to ask someone's opinion on something. Specially when showing them something.
  2. kao

    Face. (~gao is rendaku 連濁)

Basically, since doya is an expression used when you're showing something off to someone, doyagao is a "showing-off face."
  • doyaru
    ドヤる
    To make a doyagao. To be smug about your abilities. To look like you're bragging about your skills.
  • jiman suru
    自慢する
    To be proud of [something].
  • hometemo ii
    褒めてもいい
    [You] may even praise [me].

お・・・・・・お前にこんな特技があったとは・・・・・・!! どやさっ むふふー
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 23, 白銀御行は見せつけたい)
  • Context: Fujiwara Chika 藤原千花 is proud of her volleyball skills, which amaze Shirogane Miyuki 白銀御行.
  • o...... omae ni konna tokugi ga atta towa......!!
    お・・・・・・お前にこんな特技があったとは・・・・・・!!
    [I... I didn't think] that you would have this sort of special skill......!!
  • doya sa'
    どやさっ
    [Did you see it?]
  • mufufu~~
    むふふー
    *giggle*

It's worth noting that doyagao in Japanese doesn't really mean "smug" in English.

According to a dictionary, smug means "highly self-satisfied." [smug - merriam-webster.com, accessed 2020-03-06]

From this you would think the term "smug" is pretty close to what doyagao means, but, in practice, it isn't, because "smug" is often used in cases that wouldn't be considered doyagao.

For example, when a character claims to not have any romantic interests, and another character knows that is a lie and smiles knowingly, some people call this smile "smug," but it's not doyagao.
  • niyari
    にやり
    *grinning* (phenomime)
    Often used toward suggestive grins.

Examples

For reference, some examples of doyagao どや顔. You'll see that the exact facial expression doesn't really matter. It's more about what the context of the expression.

Yazawa Niko 矢澤にこ, example of doyagao どや顔.
Character: Yazawa Niko 矢澤にこ
Anime: Love Live! School Idol Project (Episode 10)
  • Niko is proud of her cooking skills.

Main マイン, example of doyagao どや顔.
Character: Main マイン
Anime: Honzuki no Gekokujou 本好きの下剋上 (Episode 4)

Asuna アスナ, example of doyagao どや顔.
Character: Asuna アスナ
Anime: Sword Art Online (Episode 8)
  • Asuna is proud of maxing her cooking skill level.

Kotomura Chino 小人村ちの, example of doyagao どや顔.
Character: Kotomura Chino 小人村ちの
Anime: Inu x Boku SS, 妖狐×僕SS (Episode 7)
  • Chino is proud of having won a plant in a supermarket lottery.

Karasuma Chitose 烏丸千歳, example of doyagao どや顔.
Character: Karasuma Chitose 烏丸千歳
Anime: Gi(a)rlish Number, ガーリッシュ ナンバー (Episode 3)
  • Chitose is proud of her unbelievable voice-acting talent.

Takanashi Rikka 小鳥遊六花, example of doyagao どや顔.
Character: Takanashi Rikka 小鳥遊六花
Anime: Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! 中二病でも恋がしたい! (Episode 1)

Kurumizawa Satanichia McDowell 胡桃沢=サタニキア=マクドウェル, example of doyagao どや顔.
Character: Kurumizawa Satanichia McDowell 胡桃沢=サタニキア=マクドウェル
Anime: Gabriel DropOut, ガヴリールドロップアウト (Episode 8)
  • Satania is proud of her unparalleled physical prowess.

Lastly, doyachichi どや乳, which is doya plus a word that means "breasts," chichi 乳, is used as a tag in illustrations where a character is doyaru'ng with their breasts emphasized somehow.


A notably great example of this: the tapioca challenge.

Faces & Expressions

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