A lot of everyday internet slang comes straight from anime, manga and Japanese fan culture. Some words are Japanese, some are English twists on Japanese, and some were invented by fans online. This guide explains the ones you’ll hear most, with a full entry for each.

Fans and fandom

• Weeb: a non-Japanese fan who’s obsessed with Japanese culture, usually said as a tease.
• Otaku: an intense, dedicated fan, especially of anime and manga.
• VTuber: a streamer or YouTuber who performs as an animated avatar.

Character types

• Tsundere: cold or prickly on the outside, secretly soft inside.
• Yandere: sweet at first, then dangerously obsessive.
• Waifu: a fictional female character a fan adores.
• Husbando: the male equivalent of waifu.
• Senpai: an older or more experienced person, as in “notice me, senpai.”

Genres and everyday words

• Isekai: stories where the hero is transported to another world.
• Kawaii: cute, and the whole Japanese cute aesthetic.
• Baka: Japanese for “idiot.”
• UwU: a cute text face used for warmth or affection.

A note on respect

Borrowing words from another language is how slang works, but a few of these carry baggage. Weeb and weeaboo began as insults. Otaku is harsher in Japan than in English. Baka is a real insult in Japanese. Each entry explains when a word might come across badly.

Related reading: our K-pop slang guide, the internet aesthetics guide (including kawaii-adjacent styles like decora) and the full A–Z index.