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I was wondering about this one recently. "Fuck" in English is famous for being
applicable in a wide, wide range of circumstances (none of them formal).

What word in Japanese covers a wide spectrum of possible meanings and uses
like "fuck" does. Does not have to be a rude/vulgar term.

Any suggestions?

EDIT: half of you seem to have missed the point of my question. I don't need a
translation for "fuck", I want a word as versatile. Maji is pretty good but I
would've thought there'd be more contenders. Admittedly it's a vague question,
but one for my izakaya zatsugaku collection.
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word-choice usage vocabulary
Are there any Japanese words as versatile as "fuck" in English?
I would say 馬鹿(バカ) is kind of like that. You could use like バカデカイ(** huge).
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2011-06-14T14:04:01.087
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What about ちょう? I've heard it used as an adverb, adjective and standing by
itself. Or was that local slang of the people I was with?
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I am surprised nobody mentioned: マジ ("maji")

Only used as an adverb, with the meaning of "fucking", for instance マジ寒い for
"fucking cold".

Combinations can be done: チョウ寒い、マジで！
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2011-06-15T09:09:52.473
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しまった？ i usually hear like あっ！しまった！ in situations that i would usually mean,
"ow, fuck!"
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2011-06-18T07:40:43.710
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What about 「[微妙]{びみょう}」. It is used to express something not quite well. e.g.
[今日]{きょう}行{い}ったレストランは[微妙]{びみょう}だった。 It is also used to say about something
subtle. e.g. [微妙]{びみょう}な[色彩]{しきさい}が[施]{ほどこ}された[絵画]{かいが}. It is also used when
you cannot make up your mind. e.g. [明日暇]{あしたひま}？ ん～[微妙]{びみょう}. It is also used
for something unknown. e.g. [彼]{かれ}の[発言]{はつげん}で[微妙]{びみょう}な[空気]{くうき}が[流]{なが}れた。
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My Japanese isn't very good, but I've heard that 一応 can be used in a wide
variety of contexts.
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I once checked what is the longest article in the Green Goddess (Kenkyusha's
New Japanese-English Dictionary). It was for `き【気】`, which had 10 main
meanings and a huge number of idioms. My denshi jiten even had it split in
two, probably because it ran into some software length limitation.

I actually managed to find a copy of the article on the web just now:
<http://pastie.org/pastes/260480>

Here's the list of main meanings:

1 〔精神･心･意識〕 spirit; (a) mind; (a) heart.  
2 〔気質･性格〕 (a) nature; a disposition.  
3 〔意向〕 a mind; an intention; 〔意志〕 will; 〔意欲〕 high [strong] motivation; 〔意気･気力〕
spirit(s).  
4 〔気持ち･気分〕 one's feelings; a mood; (a) frame of mind.  
5 〔関心〕 interest.  
6 〔注意力･心遣い〕 care; consideration; attention.  
8 〔雰囲気〕 an atmosphere; 〔精気〕 essence; spirit.  
9 【中国哲学】 〔生命の根元･生命力〕 chi; ch'i; qi.  
10 〔香気〕 fragrance; aroma; 〔風味〕 taste; 〔燻気〕 fumes.
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