weeaboo

English

Alternative forms

• weaboo

Etymology

A nonce word in "Weeaboo", a 2005 Perry Bible Fellowship comic by Nicholas Gurewitch, where it is only an unproductive action or product whose mention is taboo and punished with spanking. Used the same year as a wordfilter replacement for the abusive term wapanese on the message board 4chan, from which its current sense derived and spread. Now sometimes reclaimed as a self-description by anime and manga fans.

Pronunciation

• enPR: wēʹəbo͞o, IPA^(key): /ˈwiː.ə.buː/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

Noun

weeaboo (plural weeaboos)

1. (Internet slang, fandom slang, derogatory) A non-Japanese person, stereotypically an unsociable white male, who is overly infatuated with Japanese culture; a loser Japanophile.
   • 2007 May 3, Kai, “Return of an old-timer and H. Naoto review”, in alt.gothic.fashion‎^[1] (Usenet), message-ID <23836-4639551F-204@storefull-3118.bay.webtv.net>:

     I remember you distinctively^[sic] because I once responded in grand^[sic] detail to one of your posts about a kimono only to have you completley^[sic] ignore it. Welcome back. The clothing sounds good but I tend to desire a non-weeaboo opinion. People who are head over heels about Japanese culture tend to be a bit “biased” in their reviews.

   • 2010 January 24, Pisces, “ROB IS REALLY”, in alt.slack‎^[2] (Usenet), message-ID <5ca8c049-ad60-4ec3-ba74-1326fa02ff3d@o36g2000vbl.googlegroups.com>:

     But its^[sic] all over. Too bad. I suppose the boychild had hoped for some little Weeaboo boy who would fuck him up the ass in his mothers^[sic] basement. He just really wanted to play dirty Gohan/Goku with someone like him.
     He is pretty sure Weeaboo’s^[sic] hate halfassed black kids with cumstained sweatshirts though.

   • 2022 April 18, Steph Cha, “Down the Rabbit Hole”, in The New York Times, Fiction:

     Ingrid has been with Stephen, a Japanese translator and blatant weeaboo, for five years, and yet is shocked when she finds evidence that all of his ex-girlfriends are Asian.

2. (Internet slang, fandom slang, sometimes positive) A person who is obsessively interested in anime and/or manga.

Synonyms

• wapanese
• weeb

Hypernyms

• Japanophile (nonpejorative), egg (white), race traitor, loser
• (obsessive anime/manga fan): fan, obsessive, otaku

Derived terms

• Koreaboo, Slavaboo, weeb, -aboo (see there for more derived terms)

Related terms

• skub
• otaku

Descendants

• Bulgarian: уийб (uijb)
• Indonesian: wibu
• Polish: łibus

Translations

Translations

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 死宅 (sǐzhái) or 御宅族 (zh) (yùzháizú)

• Finnish: ernu (fi)
• French: kikoojap (fr), weeaboo (fr)
• German: Weeaboo, Weebo, Weeb
• Indonesian: wibu (id)
• Luxembourgish: Weebo
• Malay: wibu
• Marathi: वीआबू m (vīābū)
• Portuguese: otaku (pt) m
• Spanish: otaku (es) m
• Vietnamese: wibu (vi)

References

• Gurewitch, Nicholas. "Weeaboo", Perry Bible Fellowship, 2005.
• Stryker, Cole. Epic Win for Anonymous, Overlook Press, →ISBN, 2011, p. 29.