Help about this Japanese word.

Question

I heard this Japanese word so many times in different animes, but I'm still confused what's the exact meaning of the word and how is it used. can someone enlighten me. The word goes something like "o-hi-su" Or "o-i-su" or "o-hees" something like that.The translations i saw on subtitles are a bit inconsistent. The 1st one, they translated it as "yo" It's like agreeing or like saying "ok". The 2nd one I saw, they translated it as "gotcha" and the 3rd one I saw they translated it as "Here" ( after his name was called during attendance checking in class)

Now, I'd like to know what's the real word. can someone spell it for me? because I just spelled it out of the sound i heard from the seiyuu and can someone tell me how it is used?

I know from the context clues it shows that it's like a form of agreeing or saying "ok" in a cool way, but still, I would like to know the real meaning of the word.

Thanks

Answer 1

Yes, it's "うぃ～っす" (Uiiiiiii-ssu)

This word is not a formal expression, and come from like this:

はいhai --> はーい ha-i --> うーいu--i -->うぃ～ Uiiiii

+

ですdesu --> っすssu

Young boys (sometimes also acrive girls) like this expression because it's useful in aspect of politeness level they are not good at using. It is rude but some respects feeling for counter person is remain.

Answer 2

All I can guess is "osu", which is a general grunt of approval, used often in martial arts, but also in the general population. "Osu" can also be an abbreviation of "Ohayou gozaimasu", "Good Morning", which might fit the third use you mention.

Here's Wikipedia, see towards the bottom for the two uses:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSU

Here's a message board discussing the word:

http://www.kyokushin4life.com/forums/kyo...

Answer 3

It's a casual acknowledgment, which can be used for greeting or agreement. It's informal slang (and sometimes it's pronounced "ui-su"), and not part of "standard Japanese" so you won't find it in a dictionary. There's no direct translation for the word, so depending on context "yo" or "gotcha" is probably a decent equivalent in English.