What does “ike ike” mean? 行け行け？ｲｹｲｹ？いけいけどんどん？
Ike ike—!（イケイケー!）
Ike ike don don! （行け行けどんどん！）
Ike ike, go go! （いけいけゴーゴー！）
Otouto no atarashii kanojo wa ikeike da!
（弟（おとうと）の新（あたら）しい彼女（かのじょ）はイケイケだ。
“Ike ike” is a word that began to be used by young people in Japan around the 1980s.
It has been used for over 30 years without ever disappearing.
Let’s take a closer look at “ike ike”.
What does “ike ike” mean?
“Ike（イケ）” in “ike ike（イケイケ）” is a word that repeats “ike（行け）”, the imperative form of the verb “iku（行く）” in Japanese.
The meaning of “iku（行く）” is going, moving forward, passing, flowing and the like.
Originally, the word “ike ike don don（行け行けどんどん）” (described later) is said to have its origin.
“Ike ike don don” means a state where someone or something that is gaining momentum in a rushing way, or trying to someone trying to get in a hurry or getting out of control.
Japan in the 1980s was in the midst of a bubble economy, and young people dancing at discos began to use only the “ike” part of “ike ike don don”. It is thought that they used the word as a call for “dance more and more!” in order to raise their mood and feeling.
Currently, the word is used when you want to boost when someone of something has momentum, like “Go for it!”, or to express a situation as such.
”Ike ike” is “行け行け” in a kanji but young people often prefer to use the katakana version ”イケイケ”.
Also, recent “Ikeike” is sometimes used in a positive or slightly negative sense, and the following are examples of positive cases;
Bukatsu no menbaa sorezore ga ike ike muudo ni natte iru.
部活（ぶかつ）のメンバーそれぞれが行（い）け行（い）けムードになっている。
Each member of the club is motivated.
Sono purojekuto wa ike ike de susumeyou.
そのプロジェクトは、イケイケで進（すす）めよう
Let’s go ahead with that project
Sono kyoku wa ike ike na rizumu de kibun ga agaru.
その曲（きょく）は行（い）け行（い）けなリズムで気分（きぶん）が上（あ）がる
The song is a very upbeat rhythm so you feel excited.
“Ike ike” with a slightly negative meaning
In the case of slightly negative meaning of the word, it has not only the meaning of “upbeat” but also a state of being uplifted getting over oneself, fearing nothing, too cheerful without any reason, and so on.
In particular, “ike ike” used to describe a person often means slightly making a fool of the person.
Ano tenin wa itsumo ike ike dana.
あの店員（てんいん）はいつもイケイケだな。
That clerk always wears extravagant clothes and thick makeup.
Otouto no atarashii kanojo, ike ike nanndayo.
弟（おとうと）の新（あたら）しい彼女（かのじょ）、イケイケなんだよ。
My brother’s new girlfriend looks showy.
Ano hito, mitame wa ike ike nanoni bengoshi datte!
あの人（人）見（み）た目（め）はイケイケなのに弁護士（べんごし）だって！
That flashy looking guy is actually a lawyer!
Ashita no nomikai, hitori ike ike kyara ga irukara moriagarunjanai?
明日（あした）の飲（の）み会（かい）、一人（ひとり）イケイケキャラがいるから盛（も）り上（あ）がるんじゃない？
Tomorrow’s drinking party will be lively as a fun person is coming.
Shokuba ni ike ike kun ga irundakedo, matomaranakute chotto taihen.
職場（しょくば）に一人（ひとり）イケイケ君（くん）がいるんだけど、まとまらなくてちょっと大変（たいへん）。
There is an ike ike person at work, and we often don’t get works done smoothly because of him.
(In this case, ike ike is “a person who doesn’t care much about the surroundings and rushes as he wants to do)
What does “ike ike don don” mean?
“Ike ike don don（行け行けどんどん）” which is mentioned above is a combination of “ike ike” and “don don（どんどん）” and is sometimes used.
This is a call for someone to boost aggressively who is gaining momentum.
It is used in sports support and workplace scenes.
“Don don” means things are going on one after another. Someone does not hesitate to do things. “Don don” also means an onomatopoeia that represents the sound of striking a drum or door.
This word is said to have been made when Japan pre-war was focusing on the policy of increasing wealth and military power.
And since the title of the song sung by a very popular band in the 60s and 70s was “ike! ike! don don（行け！行け！ドンドン）”, the word spread throughout the country.
In addition, the word was shortened to “ike ike” in the 1980s.
Synonyms of “ike ike”
There is “nori nori（のりのり、ノリノリ）” in a similar meaning to “ike ike”. This word seems to be used more often than “ike ike”.
“Nori nori” is also an expression of the state of “gaining momentum”.
In most cases, you can replace it with “ike ike”.
