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アレな服

English translation: 'you know what' kind of clothes

14:48 Mar 2, 2024
Japanese to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Japanese term or phrase: アレな服
Dear ProZ members,

I'm struggling a bit with the following sentence from a cartoon.
A sixth grader girl comes home after school. Her father greets her and notices she's wearing very plain clothes, not quite "girly". So he says:

また、その服着てんのか？ もっとアレな服、着ればいいのに

I can get from the context that he's suggesting to wear more "fancy clothes" or something like that, but I'm not familiar with this adjectival use ofアレ. Is this the exclamation アレ ("clothes that makes you say 'what?'")? If not, what's the nuance it's meant to convey?

Thank you so much!
Riccardo91
Italy
English translation:'you know what' kind of clothes
Explanation:
In this context, "アレ" doesn't refer to the exclamation "あれ！" (which would be expressing surprise or pointing out something unexpected like "what?"). Instead, it's being used to imply something that's understood in the context of their conversation without specifying what it is.

So when the dad says "アレな服、着ればいいのに" he's suggesting she wear clothes that are more... something. The "アレ" stands in for an adjective that he doesn't specify, but based on context, it implies clothes that are more fashionable, girly, or perhaps more eye-catching than what she's currently wearing. It's a way of saying "You should wear more 'you know what' kind of clothes," something more socially expected or desirable for a girl her age, according to the father's perspective.

This use of "アレ" is quite common in Japanese and can be used in various contexts to imply something known to both speaker and listener without naming it directly, often to avoid being too direct, to be polite, or simply because the speaker assumes the listener can infer the meaning.
Selected response from:

Andy Hoang
Vietnam
Local time: 20:34
Grading comment
Very clear, thank you so much!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1'you know what' kind of clothes
Andy Hoang


  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
'you know what' kind of clothes


Explanation:
In this context, "アレ" doesn't refer to the exclamation "あれ！" (which would be expressing surprise or pointing out something unexpected like "what?"). Instead, it's being used to imply something that's understood in the context of their conversation without specifying what it is.

So when the dad says "アレな服、着ればいいのに" he's suggesting she wear clothes that are more... something. The "アレ" stands in for an adjective that he doesn't specify, but based on context, it implies clothes that are more fashionable, girly, or perhaps more eye-catching than what she's currently wearing. It's a way of saying "You should wear more 'you know what' kind of clothes," something more socially expected or desirable for a girl her age, according to the father's perspective.

This use of "アレ" is quite common in Japanese and can be used in various contexts to imply something known to both speaker and listener without naming it directly, often to avoid being too direct, to be polite, or simply because the speaker assumes the listener can infer the meaning.

Andy Hoang
Vietnam
Local time: 20:34
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in VietnameseVietnamese
Grading comment
Very clear, thank you so much!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Marc Desreumaux
4 hrs
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