Ossan おっさん

ossan means "old man" in Japanese, sometimes translated as "middle-aged man" instead. It's considered to be a relaxed, casual word, and it can either be taken as a cozy way to say "old man" or as a rude way to say "old man." Sometimes it can be used as a derogatory.

Age

The Oxford dictionary defines ossan after your 30's, much earlier than you'd become a middle-aged man in English.

(of course, it may be used toward someone younger, but that'd be like calling them old.)

Origin

ossan is the word ossan never means uncle, it inherited only the latter meaning, "old man."

• おっさん - dictionary.goo.ne.jp

Usage

The origin ofis the word ojisan おじさん , which means "uncle," but may also refer to a man of certain age. Note thatnever means uncle, it inherited only the latter meaning, "old man."

ossan is used to refer to men of a certain age, just like ojisan. However, ojisan is a word in the ossan is a bastardization of that.

Generally speaking, you can think of ojisan as a casual but respectful way of referring to a man of a certain age, while ossan is just the casual way of saying that. It's easier to be offended by getting called an ossan. It sounds like the speaker doesn't even respect you enough to say the word right.

Equally, it can be considered a more familiar word when you look at it from another side: the speaker doesn't think you'd mind if he skipped a syllable, because you're pals, right?

Sometimes ossan preceded by the

• ano ossan! あのおっさん！
  That old man!
• kono ossan! このおっさん！
  This old man! (literally)
  You! You old man!

ojisan, sometimes in anime the word ossan is used toward a young man in his 20's, or, if the speaker is a little child, toward someone even younger. In this case the ossan in question may take offense and correct the speaker, telling him to use

Like with, sometimes in anime the wordis used toward a young man in his 20's, or, if the speaker is a little child, toward someone even younger. In this case thein question may take offense and correct the speaker, telling him to use onisan お兄さん instead, which means " older brother," but may be used to refer to young men.

Kanji

Regarding how to write ossan ojisan distorted, it kind of lost its , becoming ossan using the . Normally with , as ossan おっさん or, rarely, with , as ossan オッサン.

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