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ぺこぺこ pekopeko
So hungry I can't think.
What does pekopeko mean?
Stomach-completely-empty hunger, said with a childlike whine that makes it hard to be annoyed at you.
Example
お腹ぺこぺこで何も考えられない。
I'm so hungry I can't think straight.
Vibe
Who you can say this to, and how it lands.
Safe to use Fine in ordinary conversation.
Culture note
The same word covers bowing over and over: ぺこぺこ頭を下げる paints someone apologising far too eagerly to their boss.
The story behind pekopeko
Say it out loud and it sounds like something small and hollow being pressed in, which is exactly the image. The p sounds in Japanese sit at the light, comic, slightly childish end of the scale, so pekopeko delivers hunger as a complaint nobody can be annoyed by. Grown adults use it precisely because it makes them sound five.
The same word covers a very different sight. Pekopeko atama wo sageru is bobbing your head up and down in apology, over and over, the way you might at a boss or a customer, and the picture is not flattering. One tiny mimetic, two situations: an empty stomach and a spine with no resistance in it.
Get pekopeko in your pocket
ぺこぺこ 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.
