Yankī (ヤンキー - "bad boy/girl")

Yankī

In my post yesterday, I introduced the Japanese term 'furyō' (不良), which means "bad state/boy/girl."

To express "bad boy/girl," you can also say 'yankī' (ヤンキー) instead of 'furyō'.

'Yankī' came from the slang term "Yankee," which refers to people from the Northern United States.

In Japan, young people who wander the streets while wearing flashy clothes such as Hawaiian shirts were called 'yankī'. Later, 'yankī' has come to refer to "bad boy/girl."

Incidentally, when the 'yankī' is not so aggressive and bad, and loves the hometown, he/she is sometimes called 'mairudo yankī' (マイルドヤンキー - "mild-mannered bad boy/girl").

ヤンキー

昨日は "bad state/boy/girl" を意味する「不良」という言葉を紹介しました。

"Bad boy/girl" を意味する俗称として、「ヤンキー」という言葉もあります。

「ヤンキー」は、北部アメリカ人を意味する俗語 Yankee から来ています。

日本では、アロハシャツなどの派手な服装をして街をうろつく若者のことを「ヤンキー」と呼ぶようになり、「不良少年/少女」を指すようになったと考えられています。

また、ヤンキー程の攻撃性・違法性がなく、地域指向が強い若者のことを、「マイルドヤンキー」と呼ぶことがあります。

• 'Yankī' came from the slang term "Yankee," which refers to people from the Northern United States.
• 'Yankī' came from the slang term "Yankee," which refers to people from the northern United States.

  We don't use a capital "N" in this case, because that's not an official name of a region. It's just explaining what part of the USA.

• Later, 'yankī' has come to refer to "bad boy/girl."
• Later, 'yankī' came to refer to "bad boy/girl."

• Incidentally, when the 'yankī' is not so aggressive and bad, and loves the hometown, he/she is sometimes called 'mairudo yankī' (マイルドヤンキー - "mild-mannered bad boy/girl").
• Incidentally, when a 'yankī' is not so aggressive and bad, and loves their hometown, he/she is sometimes called 'mairudo yankī' (マイルドヤンキー - "mild-mannered bad boy/girl").

It's interesting how a lot of ヤンキー are conservative and nationalistic, yet their looks are actually based on how foreigners dress. Many even dye their hair lighter, so they prefer to have a caucasian hair colour than their own natural hair colour.