What would be the Japanese slang version of the sarcastic English phrase "sounds legit" (meaning "yeah sure... I believe you")?
I have come up with seitounaoto. But yeah, not very happy with direct translation.
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I presume that you mean "seitounaoto" as in 正当な音? I'm thinking that this is perhaps a bit too literal. – GoBusto May 01 '15 at 07:48
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1Sarcasm does not exist in Japanese. – oldergod May 01 '15 at 07:51
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3@oldergod Ironically, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. Anyway: http://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/4154/9212 – GoBusto May 01 '15 at 07:54
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2"Seitou na oto" even isn't a literal translation. It means "legit sounds"... – broccoli forest May 01 '15 at 16:23
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Can you give us a bit more information... like what would be the full sentence (in English) that you want to say, and what the the context surrounding the conversation? – peacetype May 01 '15 at 18:56
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I assume what you need is a joking expression which looks affirmative, but actually works as a sign of disbelief.
I couldn't think of an exact equivalent, but there are several ways to express sarcasm in a similar situation. Please note that the followings are kind of net-slang-y or nerdy rather than simply slangy. I honestly recommend refraining from using these if you really are a beginner in Japanese.
な、なんだってー!? (lit: Y...you say whaaat!?)
This is a famous phrase from MMR, a SF-like mystery manga which always featured many preposterous rumors. This became an internet meme maybe more than 10 years ago, but this is still popular. Today, although "な、なんだってー" can be used for something genuinely astonishing, it is typically sarcastically used in reply to something grandiose and suspicious.
ワー、スゴーイ (lit: Wow great) ／ ソウデスネー (lit: That's right) ／ etc
Among the many usages of katakana, one role of katakana is to simulate a toneless, robot-like voice. Using katakana instead of hiragana for these words implies that the speaker are not really affirmative nor interested.
(棒)
Adding
(棒)(from 棒【ぼう】読【よ】み; monotonous voice) after a phrase/sentence implies the speaker is not saying it honestly.
Examples (B is being sarcastic):
- A 「クレオパトラは宇宙人だった！」 B「な、なんだってー（棒）」
- A「クレオパトラは宇宙人だった！」 B「ソウデスネーｗｗｗ」
