This article will analyze Anya Forger’s quote from Spy x Family.
First, watch the scene, and then we’ll review the grammar.
Anya Forger’s Quote
Japanese: ちちものすごいうそつき。でも、かっこいいうそつき！
Romaji: chichi monosugoi usotsuki. demo, kakkoii usotsuki!
English: Papa is a huge liar. But he’s a cool liar!
Analysis
ちちものすごいうそつき
ちち (noun) is used when Ayna addresses Loid Forger as “Papa”.
Actually it’s not normal to call your father ちち as it’s the word used to refer to your father in formal speech. She also calls her mother はは which is the word used in formal speech too. Normally, in casual speech, people call their father and mother お父さん and お母さん, or some people call them パパ and ママ.
However, Anya often speaks Japanese incorrectly as her language is not fully developed, which makes her sound silly but funny and cute. So, for Anya, ちち and はは are only used as nicknames like “Papa” and “Mama”.
Also, ちち and はは are usually written in kanji, but in the original comics, Anya’s lines are written mostly in hiragana, which expresses her immaturity and cuteness as well.
ものすごい (adjective) is used to emphasise the great amount or degree of something. In this case, it modifies うそつき meaning “liar” so ものすごいうそつき means “huge liar”. You can also say すごいうそつき but ものすごい can express more immense and greater amount than すごい.
So the first sentence ちちものすごいうそつき means “Papa is a huge liar”.
でも、かっこいいうそつき
でも (conjunction) means “but” used at the beginning of a sentence.
かっこいい (adjective) means “cool”, “good-looking“, “handsome“, “stylish“, and so on. It’s used not only to express attractive looking, but also actions or behaviours that people admire. In this case, they have to leave the apartment because of her, but he lied that it’s because of a poisonous snake so that she wouldn’t have to blame herself, which is kind, smart and cool.
So the second sentence でもかっこいいうそつき means “But (he’s) a cool liar”.
NOTE
The noun うそつき comes from the “object + verb” 「うそをつく」 (to tell a lie).
Some nouns are made from the “object + verb” such as;
- 金持ち (rich person) – 金を持つ (to have money)
- 酒飲み (drinker) – 酒を飲む (to drink alcohol)
- 子供騙し (childish trick) – 子供を騙す (to trick children)
Examples
父/母 (my father/my mother)
父と母のような素敵な夫婦に憧れます。
chichi to haha no yō na suteki na fūfu ni akogaremasu.
I admire wonderful married couples like my father and mother.
父はいつも母の言うことを聞いている。
chichi wa itsumo haha no iu koto o kiite iru.
My father always listens to what my mother says.
子供の頃、母は優しく、父は厳しかった。
kodomo no koro, haha wa yasashiku, chichi wa kibishikatta.
When I was a child, my mother was kind, and my father was strict.
ものすごい (emphasises the great amount or degree of something)
日本語の文を作るのに、ものすごい時間がかかる。
nihongo no bun o tshukuru noni, monosugoi jikan ga kakaru.
It takes me forever to make a sentence in Japanese.
ものすごい人の数に圧倒された。
monosugoi hito no kazu ni attō sareta.
I was overwhelmed by the great number of people.
今朝、ものすごい音で目が覚めた。
kesa, monosugoi oto de me ga sameta.
I was awakened by the extreme sound this morning.
NOTE
ものすごい is an adjective that modifies the following noun and ものすごく is an adverb that modifies the following adjective or verb. But nowadays, ものすごい is also used as an adverb especially between youths.
ものすごいかっこいい！
monosugoi kakkoii!
It’s super cool!
* It’s supposed to be ものすごく as かっこいい is an adjective, but it’s widely accepted to use ものすごい. The same applies to すごく/すごい.
かっこいい (cool)
彼女みたいなかっこいい女になりたい。
kanojo mitai na kakkoii onna ni naritai.
I want to become a cool woman like her.
コーヒーを片手に仕事に向かうビジネスマンはかっこいい。
kōhī o katate ni shigoto ni mukau bijinesuman wa kakkoii.
Businessmen going to work with coffee in one hand is cool.
家族を何よりも大事にするお父さんは、世界で一番かっこいい男だ。
kazoku o naniyorimo daiji ni suru otōsan wa sekai de ichiban kakkoii otoko da.
My dad who cherishes his family more than anything else is the coolest man in the world.
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