ドンマイ (donmai)

What it means

1. 1.

   Never mind; don't sweat it. Said to someone who has just made a mistake, to wave it away before they apologise.

Examples with translations

• ドンマイドンマイ、次いこう。

  Forget it, forget it — on to the next one.

  Note: Standard on a sports pitch after a dropped catch or a missed shot.

• 失敗しても、ドンマイだよ。

  So you messed up — no harm done.

Where it comes from

From English 'don't mind', reanalysed in Japanese as a consolation rather than a statement about the speaker's own feelings. A clear case of a borrowing whose meaning no English speaker would guess and no Japanese speaker finds odd.

Other forms

Romanised as:

donmai