What does the word abo-n（あぼーん） mean?
When browsing Japanese Internet bulletin boards or SNSs, we often encounter the words “abo-n（あぼーん）” or “abon（あぼん）”.
This word is said to have been used since the beginning of the Japanese giant Internet bulletin board called 2ch (currently 5ch) (already in early 2000). So this is relatively old as an internet slang.
Although the word is not used much as it used to be, most people who are familiar with the Internet know “abo-n".
Let’s take a closer look at “abo-n”.
What is the meaning of “abo-n", “abon" or “Aboon"?
“Abo-n", “aboon", “abon", “apon" are words born on a huge Japanese bulletin board called “2ch".
Originally it showed the state when someone’s post was “deleted".
Some Internet sites are accessed and posted by various people from around the world.
Ideally, everyone should write something good, but some people make inappropriate posts. For example, content that mentions human rights issues, content that contains personal information, or content with the purpose of disorienting the site.
It ’s only natural for site admins to delete such posts, right?
When such a post was deleted, because of the “2ch” specification, not the entire post disappeared but its serial number remained.
In addition, the wording “abo-n” in hiragana have been replaced in the columns for the posting space, date, and author’s handle name.
When “abo-n” was displayed in such a way, other users found that the post had been deleted by the administrator.
There are other theories as to why “abo-n" came to be used, but it is often said that it is derived from English “a bone".
This is because the post has not completely disappeared, but debris remains.
The meaning of the word expanded from “deleted” to “disappeared” and “dead”.
This word may also be used in everyday conversation.
For example, when your player dies in a game, when your phone or PC is broken, when you are tired, when you have a hangover, or when your car breaks down.
For example, it is used verbally as follows:
Kinou 12ji made zangyou datta, abo-n chuu.
昨日（きのう）、12時（じ）まで残業（ざんぎょう）だった、あぼーん中（ちゅう）
I worked overtime until 12:00 yesterday, abo-n.
Ore no sumaho abo-n shita …
俺（おれ）のスマホあぼーんした・・・。
My smartphone broke.
Yuusha ga abon shita …
勇者（ゆうしゃ）があぼんした・・・。
My hero died. (in a game)
And the Japanese like to shorten and change the language.
“Aboon” sometimes changes as follows.
“あぼん (abon)”
“あぽーん (apo-n)”
“あぽん (apon)”
5ch offers a dedicated browser, you can hide specific posts by specifying the ID of the person you do not want to read, NG word. This is also called “abo-n”.
In this case, it is called “transparent abo-n（toumei abo-n、透明（とうめい）あぼーん）”, and the deleted post is simply skipped and the word “abo-n” is not displayed.
Users bother to call it “transparent abo-n”.
Also, there are some users who play with abo-n by typing “aboon” in the name and post fields by themselves. The real “abo-n” has been replaced with “abo-n” on the posting date.
Another origin of “abo-n"
There is another theory about the origin of “abo-n". It is a Japanese manga “Ping Pong Club (Ike! Inachuu takkyuubu、行け!稲中卓球部)” from the 1980s.
When one of the characters panicked and became blank, a sound effect was drawn in the background, representing the state of being completely empty, as if his soul was missing.
The sound was “abo-n”.
Maybe the 2ch admin was a fan of this comic.