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ぼちぼち bochibochi
So-so. And that's fine.
What does bochibochi mean?
The all-purpose Osaka answer to how's it going — not great, not bad, still moving. It also means about time we got started.
Example
仕事は、まあぼちぼちだよ。
Work is, well, so-so.
Vibe
Who you can say this to, and how it lands.
Safe to use Fine in ordinary conversation.
Culture note
In Osaka's merchant tradition, the stock exchange 儲かりまっか (making money?) and ぼちぼちでんな (getting by) is still quoted with affection. Answering ぼちぼち is a small way of refusing to boast.
The story behind bochibochi
Osaka's merchant culture produced a famous exchange: one greeting asks whether business is making money, and the standard reply is ぼちぼち, getting by. It is quoted affectionately all over Japan as shorthand for how the city talks. Nobody is meant to take the modesty literally.
That is the real content of the word. Answering ぼちぼち refuses both boasting and complaining, which keeps the conversation comfortable and gives away nothing. The second sense is just as useful: ぼちぼち行こか means it is about time we moved, delivered so gently that it does not feel like an instruction. A whole social style fits inside four syllables.
Get bochibochi in your pocket
ぼちぼち is one of 308 words in YABAI, a Japanese culture snack for Android. Every word comes with its meaning, an example sentence, a vibe check and a story like the one above — in 13 languages, read aloud by your device. Paid app: no ads, no sign-up, no subscription.
