What does “gachi” mean? ガチ?
Gachi de yabai
ガチでヤバイ
Gachi no ippon shoubu
ガチの一本勝負
Korette gachi no yatsu?
これってガチのやつ？
Recently, the word “gachi" has been used by young people and some adults. Some television celebrities also use this word in many television programs.
These words are more commonly used by men than women.
Let’s take a closer look at “gachi."
What is the meaning and origin of “gachi（ガチ）"?
“Gachi" is an abbreviation for the sumo term “gachinko（ガチンコ）".
The meaning of “gachinko" means a “serious fight".
For this reason, actions that are always taken seriously, such as a war or a serious killing like a duel, are not called “gachinko”.
For example, the state of “he or she is seriously different from usual" is gachinko.
In addition, it also describes a sumo wrestler who does not play a fixed fight as it comes from sumo terms.
The meaning of the above example sentences is as follows.
Gachi de yabai
ガチでヤバイ
It’s a really bad situation.
Gachi no ippon shoubu
ガチの一本勝負
a serious game
Korette gachi no yatsu?
これってガチのやつ？
Is this a real thing?
From the above, “gachi" means “seriously", but recently it has also been used to mean “really", “very" and “greatly".
There is a youth slang called “maji", which is now used by adults, and “gachi" is used in a similar way to this “maji".
However, the two terms are understood to have slightly different meanings.
“Gachinko" is an onomatopoeic expression of the sound of sumo wrestlers hitting each other during a match. As is usually the case with onomatopoeia, it is usually written in katakana, so there was no kanji for it.
However, recently, the kanji idiom that means a “serious fight（shinken shoubu：しんけんしょうぶ：真剣勝負）" occasionally reads as “gachi-batoru（ガチバトル：gachi battle".）
The word ”maji", which has a similar meaning, originally had the meaning of “being square or earnest：majime：まじめ：真面目 ）", but after several decades, the kanji “本気（honki：being serious）” has been used by people and is now widely accepted.
In the near future, “gachi” kanji may be recognized as “真剣” in the same way.
“Gachi" seems to be often used by men, but it is also used among young girls. Some adults also use it.
Difference between “gachi" and “maji"
For example, comparing the differences between “gachi" and “maji";
“Maji" is the action or situation that you could cause such as;
to carry out your dream you had since childhood into reality
to love someone seriously
to start exercising for health, etc.
“Gachi", on the other hand, involves unexpected or unpredictable situations such as;
to encounter a bear when walking in a forest
to run across your ex in town
Suppose you are a man and had an affair.
You reflected on it in a “maji" state of mind and decided to confess it to your wife.
You apologized to her from the bottom of your “maji" heart.
However, your wife burst into tears and became very furious, and threw everything in the room to you, shouting “I will divorce you!"
In such a situation, you have to soothe her with a “gachi" attitude. Then you have to face her with a “gachi” manner.
The subsequent reaction of your wife will determine whether your attitude should be “maji" or “gachi."
“Maji" expresses a serious situation, but “Gachi" has the impression that more tension and agility are involved.