I just heard a Japanese man say what sounded like "Nonsense" said with
American accent immediately followed by Japanese "ka ne". Assuming he didn't
throw a single American English word in his speech what is this Japanese word
and its meaning? Sounds like "Nansenskane".
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2017-01-28T22:40:11.207
42973
2017-01-29T02:47:59.773
19595
question
translation spoken-language
What is the Japanese word that sounds like English word "Nonsense" and what is its meaning?
This would be ナンセンス (nansensu), which means almost the same as English
"nonsense". Daijirin also mentions ナンセンス文学 ("nonsense-literature"), which
refers to the genre exemplified by Lewis Carroll. ([Japanese Wikipedia
article](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8A%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BB%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B9%E6%96%87%E5%AD%A6)
- links to English article ["Literary
nonsense"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_nonsense))
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2017-01-29T02:11:33.847
42978
2017-01-29T02:11:33.847
7717
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answer
Without actually hearing it, my best guess as a native Japanese-speaker would
be the colloquial:

> 「何{なん}すかね」 or 「何{なん}なんすかね」

The former is a contracted form of 「何{なん} **で** すかね」 and the latter, that of
「何{なん}なん **で** すかね」.

If 「で」 had actually been used, I do not think you would have missed it as the
"d" consonant would have been pronounced fairly acutely in that context.

Finally, depending on the context, 「ナンセンスかね」 is also possible.
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2017-01-29T02:35:37.397
42981
2017-01-29T02:47:59.773
2017-01-29T02:47:59.773
42973
answer