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[Statistics](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/952/how-commonly-
are-atashi-or-boku-used-in-japan/953#953) seem to show that (for young males,
anyway) 俺{おれ} is beginning to be used more often than 僕{ぼく} to refer to
oneself. I have read that 俺 is somewhat rude.

There are certain situations, of course, where you would obviously not want to
use it (e.g. when speaking with your boss), but when speaking in an informal
setting, does it still have a "rude" connotation?

How would you feel if you are speaking to your friend and he's using 俺 all the
time instead of 僕?
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question
first-person-pronouns
Just how rude is 「俺{おれ}」?
For the younger generations, the rude connotations seem to be disappearing
fast. I spent considerable time with Japanese in their '20s over the past two
years and the vast majority of males consistently used 俺 to refer to
themselves in casual situations. Many of them were far removed from the type
of personality that wants to present themselves as rude in any kind of
situation.

For older generations the connotations may still be there, but that doesn't
seem to stop young people using them in mixed company. They may switch to
something softer when addressing older people directly, then return to 俺 when
speaking to the younger person sitting next to them a few seconds later.
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2011-06-13T05:48:48.750
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answer
Like pretty much all pronoun (hell, all politeness-level related) issues in
Japanese, there just isn't an absolute answer: it's all down to context and to
the nature of your relationship with the listener.

The short answer is: _a lot less rude than you may have been led to believe_

I do remember being given very stern warnings (in manuals or language lessons)
about never using it in polite company, lest I gravely offend people by my
lack of humility etc. etc. In reality, as Oren pointed out, young people use
it all the time, including in semi-formal situations (e.g. when talking to
people they do not know very well).

I recommend you read through the [many questions that have already been posted
on the proper uses of 私 vs. 僕 vs.
俺](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/first-person-pronoun):
they will probably tell you all you need to know about the situations in which
it is OK to use one or the other. But for a quick summary:

  1. Some examples of situations in which 俺 _is_ indeed going to sound very rude:

    * Talking to your boss or a superior at work.

    * Talking to an elderly person you do not know well (or any elderly, really).

  2. Typical situations where 俺 is perfectly innocuous:

    * Talking to your male friends/schoolmates/coworkers of same or lower rank (in age and/or position).

    * Talking to people you know intimately (family members, girlfriend...).

  3. Situations where it can go both ways and you should rely on context and your better judgement:

    * Talking to senior coworkers/friends (i.e. 先輩【せんぱい】)
    * Talking to girls or love interests you are not particularly intimate with: I recommend you read up on the 僕 vs. 俺 debate for that one. Some people will recommend 僕 for its "cuteness" and harmlessness, while others will point out that 俺, making you sound like a manly man, is a better fit for courtship.
    * When talking to perfect strangers (e.g in a store etc.): I hear it done all the time... Probably depends a lot on your tone but generally safe.

Provided the rest of your sentence and your tone convey the appropriate level
of politeness, I generally don't think 俺 will offend anyone. A much higher
risk, ihmo, is that it will make you sound slightly silly, because out of
character (i.e. more boastful than your age and position allow you to). Rule
of thumb is that you should never use it with people that are your father's
age or above ;-)
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answer