What's this romaji? - Apparently nothing

[rwesterhof]

Ok, so my uncle just wished me
oki maki jaja
Supposedly this means ‘see you soon’ but I can’t make heads or tails of it. Do note that we’re Dutch and the Dutch ja is pronounced ya, so it’s probably more like
oki maki yaya
although I’m not entirely sure the yaya is even part of this romanization (as jaja is a Dutch word as well).

Hints that I have for deciphering this:
My uncle does not speak Japanese and has likely romanized this ‘off the cuff’ from hearing it. He visited Kyushu, so if it’s a standard expression, it’s likely a southern Japanese one. (He knows I’m learning Japanese).

Closest I think I’ve gotten so far is
お時(とき)は来(き)たいや
which should indicate how strict I’m assuming this romanization is. I also considered starting with お会(かい) and throwing in 早(は)や in stead of yaya, but I don’t see that working at the end of the expression.

Does anybody have any idea what this could be?

[alo]

I got nothing.

But it reminds of a time a friend asked how to say “what’s up” and I taught him どうしたの.

He tried saying it a few days later and I though he was speaking Russian.

[Mike_Nekoski]

Perhaps it’s 大きい and 和気あいあい?

[alo]

大き巻き?

Still doesn’t make sense but good point about the long お.

[alo]

@rwesterhof

which should indicate how strict I’m assuming this romanization is

Maybe it’s お元気じゃ?

[Mike_Nekoski]

Yeah gotta keep in mind that folks who have never studied or used an unstressed mora based language have no clue about vowel length.

Source: 5 months ago I had never studied or used an unstressed mora based language, and had no clue about vowel length.

[murasakiblue]

@alo

Maybe it’s お元気じゃ?

That would be my guess too.

Either that or “大好き” (Daisuki) because 大 is the same kanji found in “Ookii” and if your uncle doesn’t speak Japanese, maybe he remembered the word but pronounced it wrong?

Last guess is “okimaki” = “okidoki” = “Okey dokey” = “Okay”… But maybe that’s going too far off. lol

[rwesterhof]

@alo

大き巻き

大(おお)きい巻(ま)き is actually what I started with
Honorific お seemed to make more sense though as a starter.

[rwesterhof]

@murasakiblue

if your uncle doesn’t speak Japanese, maybe he remembered the word but pronounced it wrong?

I’m assuming he would have gotten it from the pronunciation, not from writing, but お元気(げんき)じゃ is something I can’t/won’t rule out.

[monkeyshine89]

Is it possible your uncle made a mistake and tried to say

オッケーまた?

[Belthazar]

@rwesterhof

He visited Kyushu, so if it’s a standard expression, it’s likely a southern Japanese one.

Kyushu has about as many dialects as it has shu, so it might be useful to know precisely where he was.

I’m not sure I’d put much confidence in him hearing it accurately, though.

One thought: いたっきもんで is Kagoshima-ben, though it might be more いってきます than またね

[trout]

[plantron]

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll (Official Music Video)

[d-hermit]

Why are you asking us what your uncle who doesn’t speak Japanese meant when you can ask him instead?

Besides,

Mondegreen

[rwesterhof]

@d-hermit

Why are you asking us what your uncle who doesn’t speak Japanese meant when you can ask him instead?

'Cause he already said? It means ‘see you soon’. I should ask if he knows the literal translation, but I’m not optimistic. I guess I hoped it would be some obvious expression that I’m unaware of (and let’s face it, there are many of those).

edit: I just realised that this is indeed the only way to weed out possible trolling. I’m oblivious to that sort of thing, so will report back once I have more info.

@Belthazar

so it might be useful to know precisely where he was.

Kumamoto if I’m not mistaken. JLect is a nice resource btw - thanks for the link!

@monkeyshine89

Is it possible your uncle made a mistake and tried to say

オッケーまた?

Wouldn’t it be the grandest if it was
オッケーまたバイバイ

So far I think many of the suggestions are equally likely. Thanks for all the help!

[d-hermit]

@rwesterhof

@d-hermit

Why are you asking us what your uncle who doesn’t speak Japanese meant when you can ask him instead?

'Cause he already said? It means ‘see you soon’. I should ask if he knows the literal translation, but I’m not optimistic. I guess I hoped it would be some obvious expression that I’m unaware of (and let’s face it, there are many of those).

I see. It was unclear from the OP. It’s still a good question where he learned it. You implied it was during his visit to Kyuushuu but it’s not 100%? Did someone teach it to him or did he just hear it somewhere?

[Mike_Nekoski]

@rwesterhof

Ok, so my uncle just wished me
oki maki jaja
Supposedly this means ‘see you soon’ but I can’t make heads or tails of it. Do note that we’re Dutch and the Dutch ja is pronounced ya, so it’s probably more like

It’s right there in the OP but for real, it must be under a perception filter because I completely missed it too…

[d-hermit]

I read it but I can’t know whether the uncle said what it meant himself or it was a deduction on @rwesterhof 's part.

I thought it was a psychological concept… “perception filter”

[Mike_Nekoski]

Nevermind then I’m just out of adderall and receding into poo-brain.

[rwesterhof]

@d-hermit

I read it but I can’t know whether the uncle said what it meant himself or it was a deduction on @rwesterhof 's part.

Ah, that makes sense - I should have explicitly mentioned that. Yes, he did explain that it meant ‘see you soon’ (or rather the Dutch version ‘tot snel’).