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What Does Yarou, Konoyaro And Bakayaro Mean?

03 December 2024Shopify API

Wondering what does Yarou Konoyaro And Bakayaro mean? Here’s a detailed breakdown of Yarou Konoyaro And Bakayaro in Japanese. And how its used. Check it out!

While watching anime, Japanese movies, public fights or gaming with Japanese gamers, you might have come across the terms konoyaro and bakayaro. 

If you have, this article will articulate the meaning word by word so that you may know how to respond to them if encountered in the future. These words are not righteous to be used in society now as they are abusive and an expression that one is furious at the other.

You might be tremendously curious about what the words mean. Fret not! This article will revolve around the origin and archaic use of these words as well as what is their impact when said in the current civilization now. 

Perhaps this article is surprising but I believe it is important for you to know these words so someone does not misuse them in front of you. 

Another thing to be noted is that these words actually spell Konoyarou and Bakayarou, while the world today writes it down as Konoyaro and Bokoyaro. This is because the Romanization of these words from the Kanji script eliminates the ‘u’ at the end.

What Does Yarou, Konoyaro And Bakayaro Mean

Meaning of Yarou 

It is very ordinary for a person to write yaro, but yaro literally means ‘I think’, or ‘let us do it’ whereas the one that we are going to discuss is nothing like that. The accurate insult that the language suggests is written as Yarou, so do not be confused with the u that is there at the end. 

Historically, the term Yarou was used as a suffix for Japanese titles and it portrayed a saga of the hereditary line’s honorary titles but soon with time, the use of the suffix faded away. In today’s generation, the same word is used to express something very demeaning. 

The fact that something that was a legacy transformed into a disgraceful and cheap expression is truly ironic and astonishing. 

Yarou in itself is not an abusive word until blended with other Japanese slang like Kono and Boko, referring to this article. It does not even have an apt meaning to be translated into English or other languages but reflects an undertone of detest and disgrace upon utterance. 

However, if we were to formally translate yarou just for the sake of it, it is used to direct at some other person, ally and soldiers who are loyal and chivalric. 

But how the turntables! Today it has become a popular internet slang meaning bastard, idiot or son of a bitch. And when the word joins other Japanese abuses, it can just make the insult more offensive to bear. 

Like most internet slanders, yarou is not unisex. It is predominantly pointed towards a male and not a female. 

Meaning Of Konoyarou

Now let us break down and understand our first insult for the day, that is, Konoyarou. Mind you, there is nothing like Konoyaro in Japanese. There has to be an extensive ‘u’ at the end for the word to make sense according to the Kanji script.

Kono’ in Japanese means ‘this one’ or ‘it is’, generally used as a pronoun to point at the person who is next to the speaker or referred to someone in the third person as a form of direct speech. 

When the expression ‘yarou’ is joined, the word is supposedly aggressive and can be very arrogant in Japanese speech.

By far, Konoyarou can be one of the most insulting slanders in Japanese that one can use against someone. Some other outward translations for the word can be ‘an idiot’, ‘piece of shit’, ‘worthless’ or ‘son of a bitch’. 

So you need to be mindful when you use the word if it ever comes across your mind that the person you are delivering it towards understands that you are doing it for fun and has a casual intention. As this is used during fights, things may look south for you if someone gets offended. 

When you look up translations on various authentic websites, you would know that Konoyarou literally means ‘this bastard’. 

Even the use of Konoyarou has a story behind it.

There was an article by The Japan Times which talked about Konoyarou, and the headline said, “Be warned: we are talking rather rude Japanese”, and stated that in the society of Japan, civility is obligated to maintain a high degree of embellished formality, and substandard argots like these often degrade the flow and working of a decent and posh society.

Some phrases that you might hear related to Konoyarou

  • Namen ja ne, konoyaro! 

Do not think you can make a fool out of me, you prick

  • ore wa konoyaro wo yurusanee

I won’t forgive you, bastard!

Meaning Of Bakayarou

Although Bakayarou is different from Konoyarou, you would see a lot of people associating these jargons together when using either. 

But even Boko and Yarou amalgamated together can be vigorously contemptible and arrogant. Baka usually in Japan is used to signify a person who is brainless. Other similar translations can be an idiot or donkey. 

People do not like being called dumb, especially not in a country like Japan where everyone works their brains so much to advance themselves from the world every single day. 

Baka has become a common expression in anime and everyone has been ringed by this word somewhere in their lives. 

Even if you are not into anime, you would have heard this word because there were a lot of memes associated with ‘Sussy Baka’ that drove the internet crazy for some unknown reason.

https://twitter.com/deanjnorris/status/1423489493055672329?s=20&t=lwz7vgR1jImoXb-G8cJfqw

As aforementioned, Yarou literally means ‘looks like’ or ‘seems like’. So Bakayarou can be used to direct to a person from the first speaker’s perspective that the person is very dumb or he looks like an ass. 

To make it less, coarser, it can be pointed out to a person who looks like an idiot or is naive at some job or task. There are a lot of translations that suit the word and there is a lot that can be lost in translation. 

But what really depends on making the degree of offence higher by saying the expression is the tone and the situation that is predominant. Of course, they are used playfully but misinterpretation can take a huge toll.

You would notice that the combination of Konoyaro and Bakayaro is very common in quarrels and fights. This increases the intensity with which one exerts the expression and as these two jargons go hand in hand, they often come out together.

 The phrase together can literally mean ‘You idiot, you bastard!’ People even use the word ‘yarou’ alone as slang because it is no more a dignified title or a suffix for Japanese names, but quite the contrary. In fact, Yarou is one of the most common slurs up there.  

The ideal translation that follows for Bakayaro can be ‘this stupid bastard’ or ‘this dumb person’, but again that depends on how deplorable one tries to make it. 

They are said to be born with a sweet mouth and die with one. 

Other related insults that you should know:

  • Baka/ aho

idiot or stupid

  • Baka yaro

It's a harsher version of konoyaro, originating from kusoyaro(a$$hole)

  • Kuso

shit!

  • Kusobaba

insult for grandfather

  •  Kusojiji

insult for grandmother

  • Urusai

literally meaning ‘noisy’, also used to indicate ‘shut up!’

Not to mention, Japanese people believe in a high-class society established with certain rules and standards and are indeed the nation with one of the most respectful and self-effacing citizens. 

The honor they have for their culture and heritage is unparalleled, and using these abuses might also be the last thing that you may hear from their mouths.

If you are a foreigner in the country, you are bound to listen to the sweet voices of people and lovely gestures, making Japan one of the most welcoming countries ever. 

It has rather become the tendency to influence young minds infiltrated with lots of negative content through social media who have developed these words into their frequent vocabulary. 

The western world has also come across these terms, mostly out of curiosity. Now that media is spread everywhere and accessible to everyone, especially from anime, whose presence is so ubiquitous that its viewership has now crossed a billion now.  

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