Is つ (Slang) used by both older and younger people? And is slang mostly used between same-age / in-group people only?
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I should imagine its the same as in your country/language.
In the UK, each generation has it’s own slang, some of it becomes so well known that it transcends use by one generation.
I said to my teenage son the other day, “well you know what they say - mo’ money, mo’ problems”
“mo’? mo’? what does that mean”
And I have my teenage kids and their cousins in stitches every time I try to use ‘rizz’
Anyway, I think my point is that Japan is probably no different in this regard.
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Thanks for your reply. I can see how slang within a family, such as your example between parents and children, would be okay. I’m also wondering about the use of slang outside ones in-group.
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In this particular case つ is a shortening of sound. In my real life experience it tends to be used more by men, especially when speaking to other men, and sounds “rougher” but it isn’t that rough. I have heard everyone from 10 year olds to 70 year olds use this つ. Like a lot of rougher speech young men tend to use it more than anyone else. It is very common in certain manga and anime and some characters speak that way pretty consistently.
It isn’t a case of current slang which older people don’t use like ガチ (common amongst younger people), えぐい (common amongst younger people but only certain people use it), チー牛 (commonly known 2chan slang which isn’t said out loud much), 気にピ (quite specific feminine slang), etc.
Slang is a really interesting topic but quite hard to describe well due to regional differences and also the vast amount of change that occurs pretty much constantly. I am very behind on English slang so it is not even something you’d necessarily know in your native language in some cases. The things the Bunpro team have been adding are all commonly used in media though so a very good starting point as those things aren’t gonna change anytime soon.
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My Japanese tends to be more academic-centered, so while I can read and speak about my research (medieval Japanese Buddhism), I’m useless with contemporary slang! Your reply was therefore really helpful, thanks!
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If you ever feel the impulse to share more about this then please do make a post on this forum as I for one would love to read about it. I know next to nothing about it beyond seeing random references here and there in media.
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This stuff is my jam too! Especially the influence of Kukai and Shingon Buddhism on Japanese culture/language as a whole.
I study late medieval Buddhist mortuary rituals and funeral culture. So glad to learn that you and @CursedKitsune share my interests!