Japanese · At the Izakaya
ゲロ
gero
GEH-ro · /ɡeɾo/
Puke / to hurl
2/5 Bar-safe
coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances
Literally
"vomit / puke"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
Blunt, unglamorous word for vomit — the natural end of a berobero night. "Gero haku" = to throw up; "gero-mazui" = disgustingly bad-tasting. Coarse but not a real curse; you just wouldn't say it at a nice dinner. The tidier verb is "haku"; gero is the gross-out noun.
Heard in the wild
飲みすぎてゲロ吐きそう。
Drank too much — I'm gonna hurl.
Where it lands
Nationwide
Quick answers
- What does "ゲロ" mean?
- In Japanese, "ゲロ" means "Puke / to hurl". Literally it's "vomit / puke". Blunt, unglamorous word for vomit — the natural end of a berobero night. "Gero haku" = to throw up; "gero-mazui" = disgustingly bad-tasting. Coarse but not a real curse; you just wouldn't say it at a nice dinner. The tidier verb is "haku"; gero is the gross-out noun.
- Is "ゲロ" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 2/5 (Bar-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances.
- How do you pronounce "ゲロ"?
- Say it "GEH-ro" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ɡeɾo.
Related in Japanese
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Disgusting".
- French Ça craint ! That's sketchy / That sucks / This is bad news
- German Drecksau Filthy pig / dirty swine
- Greek αηδία Gross / disgusting / yuck.
- Italian Che schifo! How gross! / Yuck!
- Korean 극혐 So gross / absolutely revolting — maximum disgust in two syllables.
- Polish syf Filth / grime / a dump — squalor as a one-syllable verdict.
- Portuguese Bosta! Crap! / (a) piece of garbage
- Russian Фу! Yuck! / Ew! / Gross!
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