大丈夫 (daijōbu)

What it means

1. 1.

   All right; fine; safe. Asked of someone who has just tripped, or said of a plan that will hold.

2. 2.

   Increasingly, a polite refusal — 'I'm good, thanks'. Offered a bag at a till, 大丈夫です means no.

   This newer use is ambiguous even to native speakers, and shop staff now often ask a follow-up to check which you meant.

Examples with translations

• 大丈夫？怪我してない？

  Are you OK? You're not hurt?

• —袋いりますか？—大丈夫です。

  'Would you like a bag?' 'No, I'm fine, thanks.'

Where it comes from

Literally 'great husband' in its Chinese source — 丈夫 meant a grown man, then by extension something sturdy and reliable. The refusal sense is a twenty-first-century development and a live source of complaint among older speakers.

Other forms

Romanised as:

daijōbu