A Japanese word “yabai” originally means “under the dangerous or serious circumstance.” Situations such as:
・surrounded by enemy
・running out of ammunition (or gas)
・running late for a job interview
Obviously, yabai used to describe only negative situations. Not anymore. Today yabai has too many meanings, including boht negative and positive. To me, yabai seems to be a most polysemous Japanese word.
When you feel something, say “yabai” (a bit of a stretch?)
You may not believe this, but yabai can mean:
Good, delicious, powerful, strong, exciting, touching, beautiful, handsome, smart, cute, kawaii, etc.
Bad, cruel, disgusting, exhausting, embarrassing, cruel, horrible, scary, etc.
When you are touched, moved, struck, or inspired, “yabai” is available. In casual Japanese conversations among young people, you may hear yabai frequently.
Are there any cases where you do not use yabai? Yabai is a very casual word, so using it at a serious situation is not appropriate.
This is why I do not use Yabai often
Too many yabai in conversation sounds immature, not very intelligent. To me, “これすごく美味しい！（This is very tasty!）” sounds better than “これやばい (This is yabai!)” I want to say proper words to describe something instead of using yabai on anything and everything. (As I said, the word is for young people. I am too old.)
On rare occasions, yabai can be ambiguous due to its versatility. Here is a sample conversation:
Taro “映画どうだった？(How was the movie?)”
Hanako “やばかった (It was a yabai movie.)”
Taro is not sure Hanako likes the movie or not. Because “やばかった” means both “It was good.” and “It was terrible.” Taro needs to ask Hanako if the movie was good. To make myself clear, I want to use proper words other than yabai.
