By Brian Ashcraft

There's the Japanese you learn in books, the Japanese people speak on the street and the Japanese that geeks use to express themselves. That last dialect is called "Otaku-go" (literally, "Otaku language"). If you want to consider yourself a hardcare gamer who knows his roots, our Otaku ("geek who's into gaming, anime, manga") dictionary is for you.

Now, it's not meant to help you check into your hotel in Tokyo or buy lunch in Kyoto. Instead, our compilation of Otaku mots justes is meant to help you understand the desires, priorities, fears and obsessions of the subculture.

It's also not comprehensive — yet. If you speak Otaku feel free to contribute through our comment section.

AV n: "Adult Video," but also can be "Audio Video"

Aho n: Dumbass. Can be used in a friendly manner in Osaka's Den-Den Town, but sounds harsh to Akihabara otaku

Akiba n: Akihabara, Tokyo's famed gizmo shopping district. The area used to be called "Akibahara," but was changed to the present-day name

Akiba Kei n: Somebody that looks like they spend a lot of time in Akihabara

Baka n: A stupid person. Not as mean as "aho"

Bakana adj: Stupid

Bishounen n: Pretty boy

Bishoujo n: Beautiful girl. Sometimes shortened to "bijo"

Copipe n: Copy and paste

Dai Panikku n: Big panic. Encountering real girls causes this for many otaku

Dai Pinchu n: A difficult situation, to be in a pinch

Densha Otoko n: Literally, Train Man. A book, comic, movie and TV show that's purportedly the true story of an otaku who meets a beautiful girl and seeks dating advice from other geeks on an internet BBS

Doujin Soft n: PC games created by Japanese hobbyists; shareware video games. Usually it is pornographic and has come to mean adult games

DQN interj: An exclamation, pronounced "doh-ke-on", to express that something bad is about to happen

Eroge contr: A shortened form of "erotic game"

FA abv: As in "final answer" from the TV program Quiz Millionaire (The Japanese version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire)

Famikon n: The word used to describe the Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan

GJ abv: Short for "good job". Used in emailing and instant messages

Guguru vt: The Japanese verb for Googling. Literally, "to Google"

H abv: Short form for "sex". Pronounced "et-chi"

H game n: A video game with a focus on sex

Herm s n: 1. The heroine of Densha Otoko. The name has come to embody the otaku's dream girl: a beautiful, classy woman that accepts them 2. The luxury apparrel brand favored by wealthy otaku

Hikikomori n: 1. Extremely awkward otaku who has trouble socializing, even refusing to leave home to go to school or work 2. adj: Literally, "confining" or "pulling away"

Hentai adj: Perverted. Often used to describe media like books, comics, games

Ikato abv: Nerd; shortened form of "ikanimo Todai-sei" ("he/she's totally like a Tokyo University student")

Kawaii adj: Cute

Kitira n: A devoted fan of Hello Kitty, known in Japan as "Kitty-chan"

Maniakku n: Maniac or extremely devoted fan

Meganeko n: "Girl with glasses", an image found in H and doujin games

Moe adj: Erotically arousing, exciting. Anime characters are often described with this word

Neta n: Discussion thread or topic of conversation

Nekomimi n: "Cat's ears." Popular otaku coplay image

Nounai Kanojo n: Fantasy girlfriend; literally, "inside brain girlfriend"

Ota abv: Short for "otaku"

Puresute n: PlayStation

Renai Game n: Dating game

Resu n: A response to an email, post or instant message

Riaru n: As in "riaru de wa" or "in reality." This is used when describing things that happen outside of games

San-Roku-Maru n: Xbox 360; literally "3-6-0"

-tan suf: A cutesy suffix for the "chan" name marker, which can be used for either female or male subordinates. So Ayu-chan becomes "Ayu-tan"

Teribi Game n: TV game or video game

Terawarosu abj: The Japanese equivalent of "rolling on the floor laughing" or "ROFL". Tera refers to trillion. "Warosu" refers to laughing

Tsundere n: A icy girl who melts when you get her alone. The sound "tsun-tsun" is used when ignoring. Fans of this type of heroine are called, "tsunderera-"

Yaoi n: Gay manga and anime

Youge n: Any loud, 3D game from the west; literally, "you" is "west" and "ge" is corruption of game ("ge-mu")

Yuri n: Lesbian manga and anime

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