{"id":61,"date":"2018-12-16T10:14:20","date_gmt":"2018-12-16T10:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/?p=61"},"modified":"2023-04-10T20:31:52","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T20:31:52","slug":"doki-doki-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/doki-doki-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"The Full Meaning of DOKI-DOKI in Japanese"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>img#mv-trellis-img-1::before{padding-top:56.25%; }img#mv-trellis-img-1{display:block;}<\/style><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Japanese language is extraordinarily rich in <strong>onomatopoeia<\/strong>. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jaan! Goro-goro! Kobo-kobo! Tatatata!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A seemingly endless playground of often gleeful, sometimes confounding syllables strapped together to describe the essence of the world around us. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this article, we&rsquo;ll be discussing a worldwide phenomenon: <\/span><strong><i>doki-doki<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before we get on to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">doki-doki<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&rsquo;s meaning, a bit of a recap of what exactly onomatopoeia is, and how it differs between English and <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/study-japanese\/\" title=\"Japanese\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">Japanese<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>In English, onomatopoeia usually refers to words that mimic the sound of the thing they&rsquo;re referencing<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><b>The bee was buzzing.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><b>The rain went pitter-patter.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><b>Don&rsquo;t bang the door!<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Japanese, on the other hand, mixes things up a bit. They have at least five different categories for <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.japanpitt.pitt.edu\/essays-and-articles\/language\/onomatopoeia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">onomatopoeia<\/a><\/strong>, each with their own way of expressing something. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Gisei-go<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> (&#25836;&#22768;&#35486;)<\/strong> are words that represent sounds made by living things, like &ldquo;meow,&rdquo; &ldquo;chirp,&rdquo; and &ldquo;gasp.&rdquo; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Gion-go<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> (&#25836;&#38899;&#35486;)<\/strong> are for inanimate things, like the wind going &ldquo;whoosh,&rdquo; a hoop going &ldquo;swish,&rdquo; or a chip going &ldquo;crunch.&rdquo; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then we get the unique categories, typically uncommon in Western languages, including English. These fall outside strict onomatopoeia and into the<strong> broader realm of ideophones<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ideophones are any sort of word that is used to evoke a concept. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, &ldquo;buzz&rdquo; and &ldquo;whoosh&rdquo; fit in, but so would a word inspired by wandering aimlessly (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">uro-uro<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), being solemn (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shinmiri<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), or feeling cool (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hinyari<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Gitai-go<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> (&#25836;&#24907;&#35486;)<\/strong> are words that describe the silent world around us. The Japanese language has a whole host of interesting words in this category. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There&rsquo;s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kira-kira<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for glittering, twinkling, and sparkling things. There&rsquo;s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sansan<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for brilliant sunlight. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And there&rsquo;s the delightfully versatile <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fuwa-fuwa<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which should inspire in your mind everything that comes along with being fluffy like a cloud&mdash;buoyant, soft, poofy, and even light-hearted. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Giyou-go<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> (&#25836;&#23481;&#35486;)<\/strong> describe someone&rsquo;s behavior in an onomatopoeic way. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We get <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gaku-gaku<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for trembling knees, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gun-gun<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for steadily, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">uto-uto<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for nodding off. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I can&rsquo;t figure out where they got these one&rsquo;s from, but it&rsquo;s sure interesting to think about! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Gijou-go<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> (&#25836;&#24773;&#35486;)<\/strong> is the last category we&rsquo;ll cover here. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gijou-go<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are used to describe how someone feels. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You could describe someone&rsquo;s worries as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">moya-moya<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Or anxiously looking forward to something as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">waku-waku<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Or perhaps hopefulness as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">uki-uki<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Doki-doki, however, is special. Doki-doki<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> crosses the boundaries and<\/strong> <strong>exists as both <\/strong><\/span><strong><i>gisei-go<\/i> (sound of a living thing) and <i>gijou-go<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> (an emotional state)<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>The Meaning of Doki-Doki<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><strong>So what exactly is the meaning of <i>doki-doki<\/i>? Listen for it! Can you hear it? It&rsquo;s right there inside you&mdash;in your chest. <i>Do&hellip;ki&hellip;do&hellip;ki<\/i> when you&rsquo;re relaxed. <i>Dokidokidokidokidokidoki<\/i> when you&rsquo;re excited. In English, it goes by a couple of onomatopoetic expressions. Ba-dump! Lub-dub! Pitter-patter! In Japanese it&rsquo;s <i>doki-doki<\/i>. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let&rsquo;s get into the meat and potatoes of what <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">doki-doki<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> means. According to the Sanseido dictionary: <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#24515;&#33235;&#12398;&#40723;&#21205;&#12364;&#39640;&#12367;&#12394;&#12427;&#12424;&#12358;&#12377;&#12290; <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Shinzou-no-kodou ga takaku-naru yousu.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Okay, that probably didn&rsquo;t mean a whole lot for most of you. Basically, what that breaks down to is: <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>&ldquo;The condition where the heartbeat grows faster.&rdquo; <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>While this can just be a normal heart rate increase following a sprint or a jog up the stairs, often it&rsquo;s tied to an emotion such as excitement, anticipation, fear, etc. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>How&rsquo;d Doki-Doki&rsquo;s Meaning Get That Way?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How&rsquo;d the Japanese end up with <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">doki-doki<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for a heartbeat? Perhaps it sounds a little strange to you. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&ldquo;Maybe my heart makes <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/do-vs-make-difference\/\" title=\"do\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">do<\/a><\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> sounds, but definitely not any <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ki<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> sounds!&rdquo; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, if you ask me, I think it&nbsp;fits pretty well on its own. But let&rsquo;s take a look at the history anyway. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Going back into the <strong>Edo era<\/strong>&mdash;that age of stately samurai and shogun&mdash;we find examples of <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">doki-doki<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> already. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But we also find one other interesting word: <\/span><em><strong>douki<\/strong><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> (&#21205;&#24760;)<\/strong>, which means heart palpitation or throbbing. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, there&rsquo;s a chance that <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">doki-doki<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> came from <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">douki<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, but no concrete evidence. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, about a century after the Edo era, we find some evidence that<strong> things are not quite that simple<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Come the <strong>Showa era<\/strong>&mdash;the period that stretched from before World War II and into the Eighties&mdash;writers were regularly using <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">douki-douki<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as a play on <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">doki-doki<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&rsquo;s suggested that these meanings got mixed up by readers and a pseudo-etymology was born. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps the truth is that they were originally two totally different words that got tossed together after the fact and made to seem like historically-connected phrases, instead of the product of authorial <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/life\/2021\/02\/05\/language\/japanese-puns-dad-jokes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wordplay<\/a><\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, you might be wondering to yourself right now what sort of wordplay that is, to simply add a couple of u&rsquo;s in there and call it a pun. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, <strong>it&rsquo;s hardly so simple in Japanese<\/strong> (a language extraordinarily rich in pun-play). What appears at first glance as rather dull is quite neat once we take a closer look. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Japanese uses three different writing systems, besides the alphabet that you and I are familiar with. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>There&rsquo;s <\/strong><\/span><strong><em>hiragana<\/em>, <em>katakana<\/em>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/how-many-kanji-to-be-fluent\/\"><em>kanji<\/em><\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Hiragana<\/strong><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>,<\/strong> used for grammar inflection and normal Japanese words, we can ignore in this article. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Katakana<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are the ones we&rsquo;re most interested in right now. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/japanese-alphabets\/\"><em>Katakana<\/em><\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are a set of forty-eight characters describing almost twice that many sounds, all in single syllable form. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is used to write out foreign loan-words, as well as to function in much the same way that italics do in English. <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doki-doki<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is written with the characters &#12489; (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">do<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) and &#12461; (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ki<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), like so: &#12489;&#12461;&#12489;&#12461;. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/how-many-kanji-to-be-fluent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Kanji<\/em><\/a><\/strong> are the characters that were, for the most part, brought over from China. Those are the really complicated looking ones. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Douki<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is typically written (yes, &ldquo;typically&rdquo;&mdash;it&rsquo;s not enough to have four ways of writing things, the Japanese language has to switch things up on us mid-word even!) with the characters &#21205; (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dou<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) and &#24760; (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ki<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dou<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> means &ldquo;movement&rdquo; and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ki<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> means &ldquo;pulsate.&rdquo; Get the idea? <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dou-ki<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Movement-pulsate. Heart palpitations. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, for a Japanese reader used to seeing <\/span><strong>doki<em>&ndash;<\/em>doki and douki<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as completely separate concepts, it would bring a bit of a smirk to their face as the writer subverted their expectations. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There they are, diving into a sentence with a tense protagonist, awaiting their lover and&hellip; the reader is waiting for the <strong>&#12489;&#12461;&#12489;&#12461;,<\/strong> but then&hellip;<strong>&#21205;&#24760;&#21205;&#24760;<\/strong>! Hah! Clever! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The words sound almost the same and describe similar things but use different orthographies. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&rsquo;s the little things in life. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>So, How Do We Use Doki-Doki?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17765\" src=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese.jpeg\" alt=\"Doki Doki Japanese\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-480x270.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-720x405.jpeg 720w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-320x180.jpeg 320w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-735x413.jpeg 735w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-335x188.jpeg 335w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-347x195.jpeg 347w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-520x293.jpeg 520w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-640x360.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-960x540.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-1080x608.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese.jpeg\"><\/noscript><img loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17765 eager-load\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201280%20720'%3E%3Crect%20width='1280'%20height='720'%20style='fill:%23e3e3e3'\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Doki Doki Japanese\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese.jpeg\" id=\"mv-trellis-img-1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese.jpeg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-480x270.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-720x405.jpeg 720w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-320x180.jpeg 320w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-735x413.jpeg 735w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-335x188.jpeg 335w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-347x195.jpeg 347w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-520x293.jpeg 520w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-640x360.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-960x540.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Doki-Doki-Japanese-1080x608.jpeg 1080w\" data-svg=\"1\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doki-doki<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can be used <strong>in a couple of different ways<\/strong>. Let&rsquo;s start with using it in Japanese. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For one, in manga or anime, <strong>you&rsquo;ll often see it written in big, bold lettering next to a character to really drive home the idea that their heart is pounding. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can also be modified from a mere <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/japanese-onomatopoeia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">onomatopoeia<\/a><\/strong> into a full-fledged, grammar-abiding word. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Slap a <\/span><strong><i>to<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> particle<\/strong> on there and you&rsquo;ve made it an <strong>adverb<\/strong>, ready to describe the heart-pounding-ness of whatever verb came before it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can also attach a <\/span><strong><i>suru<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (and its conjugations) to the end to make it <strong>into a verb in the sense of <\/strong><\/span><strong><i>doki-doki<\/i>-ing, or <i>doki-doki<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>-ed<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some examples:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#27468;&#12358;&#12392;&#12489;&#12461;&#12489;&#12461;&#12377;&#12427;&#12290; <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Utau to doki-doki-suru.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I feel nervous when I sing. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#32202;&#24373;&#12375;&#12390;&#12489;&#12461;&#12489;&#12461;&#12375;&#12390;&#12427;&#12290; <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Kinchou-shite doki-doki-shiteru.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I was nervous and excited. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#36208;&#12427;&#24460;&#12391;&#12289;&#33016;&#12364;&#12489;&#12461;&#12489;&#12461;&#12375;&#12383;&#12290; <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Hashiru-ato-de, mune-ga doki-doki-shita.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>After running my heart was pounding. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But what if you wanted to use it in English? How might we put it into a sentence? <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><b>&ldquo;When I saw my crush, my heart went all doki-doki!&rdquo;<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><b>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t do haunted houses. They make me too doki-doki.&rdquo;<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><b>&ldquo;How do you feel after that interview? doki-doki?&rdquo;<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even better if you put your hand in front of your chest and pump it back and forth, mimicking the motion of a pounding heart! <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>The Meaning of Doki-Doki in Popular Culture<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doki-doki<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&rsquo;s meaning seems to be an easy and universal one to grasp. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&rsquo;s been featured in <strong>films, manga, and anime<\/strong>, such as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Glitter Force Doki Doki<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which can even be streamed in the US. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It makes it into <strong>music<\/strong> of all sorts as well. One wild example is BABYMETAL&rsquo;s &ldquo;Doki-Doki Morning,&rdquo; a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kawaii<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (cute) metal song about getting ready for a big day. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are also <strong>games with <\/strong><\/span><em><strong>doki-doki<\/strong><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> themes<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A recent, non-Japanese example is <\/span><strong>Doki Doki Literature Club!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This controversial game had educators and other authorities around the UK issuing warnings to parents about it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What could be so problematic about a game with as sweet and silly a sounding name as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doki Doki Literature Club!<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, the game is packaged to seem like a simple dating sim slash visual novel. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But <strong>as you play things start to&hellip; change<\/strong>. Oh, things start out nice and fine, but soon they end up&hellip; hmm, perhaps I shouldn&rsquo;t spoil it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&rsquo;s enough to say that the meaning of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doki Doki Literature Club!<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> plays on the multiple ideas of <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">doki-doki<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In one sense, you think the game is about the excited, romantic sense of a beating heart. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, as the game goes on, you discover that <strong>it&rsquo;s about the way your heart thuds in your chest as horror begets terror<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Have a Doki-Doki Day!<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, that&rsquo;s a pretty good rundown of the word and the ideas behind it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you&rsquo;re feeling adventurous, try to work it <strong>into a sentence or two today<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or draw it boldly beside your next doodle in big, <strong>goofy <\/strong><\/span><strong><i>katakana<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or just keep an eye out for any <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">doki-doki<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> apps, games, music, or shows you come across that might be interesting and offer some new insight into this uniquely Japanese word!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does the Japanese phrase Doki-Doki really mean? We got the answer for you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":321,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable-in-feed":false,"article-schema-type":"Article","disable-critical-css":false,"_convertkit_action_broadcast_export":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,1155],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese","category-japanese-vocabulary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24674,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions\/24674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}