Japanese Slang (8 page)

•   
Orera wa d
shi kamo shiren
ga, aitsu wa d
mo mushi ga sukan
.
We might be partners, but somehow I just don't like the guy.

•   
Oi! Oi k
-chan! Chotto soko de chiy
to hikkakete kuru wa!
Yo! Hey old woman! I'm just going out for a bit with the gang!

•   
Oi, busuke yo! Katai koto iwazu ni—m
ippai tsukiae yo!
C'mon butt-face, cut the crap and let's have another drink!

•   
Oi tanomu ze! Omae ore no fushiyaburi ja n
ka? Kane kashite kure yo!
C'mon man, you're my partner, man! Lend me the money!

•   
saka no hine ichiban tayori ni naru ze.
Our most reliable men are the guys from Osaka.

Another important part of respectable sneak-thieving gangs are the assistants, usually younger men who do dirty work like
terikiri
(“burning and cutting,” or blowtorching locks) and
kaminari
(“thunderbolt,” or making entry holes in roofs). These assistants are called
tobakiri
(den cutters) and
ashi
(legs), and are usually studying hard to become full-fledged professionals themselves. The youngest in the group, who is kept busy carrying tool bags and loot, is the
hidarisode
(left sleeve). He keeps out of the way, trotting behind the experienced elder of the group, the
migisode
(right sleeve), and drinks in as much technique as circumstances allow.

In a class of his own, the gang's lookout stands inconspicuously at gates, ducking into apartment house entrances or waiting in the getaway car, his hand on the ignition key. The lookouts of old whistled at the first sign of danger and were often masters at imitating tremulous bird calls; today's professionals, however, beep, page, and even ring up the gang on cellular phones. Over the years thousands of thief clans, large and small, have invented throngs of inspired cognomens for their watchmen. The lookouts' job was to keep their eyes peeled, what the Japanese call “stretched.”
Gan o haru
(he is stretching his eyes) came to mean “he's keeping lookout for us,” as did
toibaru
(he is stretching far). The men themselves became
ganhari
(eye stretchers),
toibari
(far stretchers), and then
kenshi
(see masters),
t
mi
(far lookers),
banmen
(watching faces), and
higemi
(“mustache watchers,” or cop watchers). Some gangs even billed them with the dashing title
yariban
(spear guard). As the lookout men made it their job to peek over walls, peer through partitions, and spy over fences and railings, they
came to be known as
takany
d
(tall giants). Another favorite has been
otenkinagashi
(the weather flows). Like a weatherman, the lookout watches for the slightest change in the atmosphere.