Pride and teasing
Collocations, Stage 4chunk 10 of 25People & talk
Looking foolish or cool: being made fun of, embarrassing yourself, and showing off.
- baka ni surumake fun of, look down on
- haji o kakuembarrass yourself, make a fool of yourself
- kakko tsukerushow off, act cool
Mix-ups Making fun of someone is baka ni suru (baka ni shinaide), not warau. haji o kaku uses the same kaku as ase o kaku. kakko tsukeru is acting cool, while kakko ii is being cool.
baka ni suru
polite baka ni shimasumake fun of, look down on
バカにする バカにします
verbsuru するdo; with X ni, treat as or make into Xtypical 4% of baka
trap English 'make fun of' leads to karakau, which is right for playful teasing but too light for contempt. Mocking someone or treating them as stupid is baka ni suru.
Heard most in protest: baka ni shinaide (don't make fun of me), baka ni shiteru no? (are you mocking me?), and in the passive, baka ni sareta (they made fun of me). It covers both mocking and treating someone as stupid.
baka ni shinaide yo.
Don't make fun of me.
バカにしないでよ。
baka ni shinaide kudasai.
Please don't make fun of me.
バカにしないでください。
baka ni dekinai = not to be underestimated: konbini no bentou, baka ni dekinai yo.
Same verb: nakamahazure (leaving someone out: nakamahazure ni sareta)Main list: suru (Stage 1), -ni suru (Stage 3), -naide (Stage 2), -areru / -rareru (Stage 2)
haji o kaku
polite haji o kakimasuembarrass yourself, make a fool of yourself
恥をかく はじをかく 恥をかきます
verbkaku かくscratch; with sweat, snoring or shame, give off or come out intypical 27% of haji
trap English 'I embarrassed myself' leads to jibun o hazukashiku shita, which isn't said. The incident is haji o kaku (the kaku of ase o kaku, not kaku 'write'); hazukashikatta is how it felt.
Mostly told after the fact: minna no mae de haji o kaita (I made a fool of myself in front of everyone), with o kept far more often than in most sets, though haji kaita is heard too. Making someone else look bad is haji o kakaseru: haji o kakasenaide yo (don't embarrass me).
minna no mae de haji o kaita.
I made a fool of myself in front of everyone.
みんなの前で恥をかいた。
minna no mae de haji o kakimashita.
I embarrassed myself in front of everyone.
みんなの前で恥をかきました。
hazukashii is the feeling; haji o kaku is the incident that causes it.
Same verb: ase (sweat), ibiki (snoring)Main list: hazukashii (Stage 4), -naide (Stage 2)
kakko tsukeru
polite kakko tsukemasushow off, act cool
かっこつける かっこつけます
verbtsukeru つけるattach, put on; here, put on a look or fronttypical 7% of kakko
trap English 'show off' leads to jiman suru, which is bragging in words about what you have or did. Putting on a cool act is kakko tsukeru, and the long-vowel kakkou o suru is about clothes: hen na kakkou shiteru (you're dressed weird).
Said with the short vowel and no o: kakko tsukenaide (quit posing), kakko tsuketeru dake (he's just trying to look cool). A poser is a kakkotsuke. The dictionary form is kakkou o tsukeru (格好をつける).
kakko tsukenakute ii yo.
You don't need to act cool.
かっこつけなくていいよ。
kakko tsukenakute ii desu yo.
There's no need to put on a show.
かっこつけなくていいですよ。
kakkoii (cool) and kakkowarui (uncool, embarrassing) are built on the same noun.
Main list: -nakute mo ii (Stage 3), -naide (Stage 2), -teru (Stage 1)