Japanese Slang (15 page)

•   
Konna kum
gi bakkari ga iru tokoro e hairo nante—omae ki demo kuruttan ja n
no ka?
You're not gonna break into a place full of cops? Are you nuts?

•   
Kin
sakaba de tonari ni suwatteta yatsu komucha dattan da'tte yo! Omae shinjirareru ka?
The guy next to us at the bar was a cop! Can you believe that?

•   
Y
! Asetta yo! Ore-tachi ga ch
do niwa e shinobikonda toki chonbu ga yoko o sud
ri shitan da yo!
Man, I freaked! We'd just crawled into the garden when a cop walked right by!

•   
Mattaku hidoi mon da ze! Kono hen wa ima tamu ga uyo uyo shiterun da ze.
It's a disaster! The whole neighborhood is full of cops!

•   
Oi, yabe! Oa ga kita zo! Hayaku, zurakar
ze!
Shit! The cops are here! Quick, let's split!

While looters are engaged in pillage, their nerves are on edge. The tremulous
kamisori?
(razor blade?) or
kamisori shinai ka?
(isn't it doing razor blade?) are questions of Korean background meaning, “Footsteps?” and “Do I hear footsteps?”

If the footsteps become louder, the panicking gangsters will wail
kaminari ochiru
(“thunder is falling,” meaning, “Shit! A police raid!”), an expression swiped from Tokyo's illegal gambling circles. The looters will rush to the window to check the street. If they see their lookout standing handcuffed by the gate, and patrol cars converging, they are likely to groan
ami o haru
(they are stretching a net), meaning that the law has surrounded the building. As always at times of great stress, the robbers resort to heavy jargon:

•   
Tetsuta!
(of Korean origin)
Look over there! The police have arrived!

•   
Dotsut
!
(of Korean origin)
The police are here!

•   
lei!
(Tokyo jargon)
Help! Danger! SOS!

•   
Nashiware!
(an inversion of
shina,
“goods,” and
ware,
“broken”)
We're ruined! They've found us out!

•   
Nashihare!
(an inversion of “goods” and
hareru,
“become clear”)
We've been found out!

•   
Ketsu o watta!
(the ass was cleaved)
We must have fucked up somewhere!

•   
Isu o sasatta!
(the chair was wedged)
We've been informed on!

•   
Yabu no naka de he o hita!
(somebody farted in the bush)
One of us here is a traitor!

•   
Ushi no tsume!
(cow's nails)
The police was in on the deal from the start!

•   
T
jitari!
(“pork chops,” of Korean origin)
Get out your guns!

•   
Tsue o motte!
(hold the stick)
We have to get our act together now and really keep our eyes peeled!

•   
Michi ga warui!
(the road is bad)
The police are everywhere! It doesn't look like we'll get out!

•   
Ore-tachi yukiya no usagi!
(we're rabbits in a snow house)
Our situation is pretty precarious!

•   
Kama o tsuk
!
(let's pound a pot, with “pot” meaning “ass”)
Everyone, hide!

•   
Gesozure!
(rub your tentacles)
Run!

•   
Mau!
(dance)
Flee!

•   
R
howa!
(“pluck flowers,” in Chinese gang jargon)
Make a dash for it!