How to Say ‘Annoying / Pain in the neck’ in Japanese
めんどくさい
mendo kusai
[MEN-doh koo-SAI]
💬 Usage Tip: めんどくさい is the slurred everyday form of 面倒くさい (mendōkusai). くさい here doesn't mean "smelly"; it means "reeking of" something, so here it means full of hassle.
Phrase Breakdown
めんど
mendo
[MEN-doh]
trouble; hassle (casual 'mendou')
Shortened, casual pronunciation of mendou, meaning bother or trouble.
宿題、めんどくさいな。
Homework is such a pain.
くさい
kusai
[koo-SAI]
-ish; seeming (lit. smelly)
Suffix from kusai (smelly) meaning 'reeking of'; with mendo it means 'what a pain'.
掃除はめんどくさい。
Cleaning is a hassle.
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