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社畜 shachiku
Corporate livestock — said of yourself.
What does shachiku mean?
会社 plus 家畜: an employee whose life belongs to the company. Funny and a little bleak when you say it about your own overtime; a genuine insult when you aim it at someone else.
Example
今週も終電だし、完全に社畜だわ。
Last train again this week. I'm officially corporate livestock.
Vibe
Who you can say this to, and how it lands.
Be careful This one carries weight. Read the meaning and the story before you say it to anyone.
About yourself this usually passes as a joke. Aimed at someone else it is an insult.
Culture note
The word spread in the late-1980s bubble years, when unpaid overtime was normal. It survives as gallows humour, and as shorthand for the working culture people are trying to leave behind.
The story behind shachiku
会社 plus 家畜: company livestock. The word appeared in print in the 1980s, at the height of the bubble, and it was aimed squarely at an existing piece of vocabulary. The era's flattering term for the same person was 企業戦士, corporate warrior — a man who gave everything to the firm and was congratulated for it.
社畜 refuses the medal. It keeps the devotion and reclassifies the devoted as an animal fed and housed in exchange for output. That is why it works as self-mockery on a late train, and why it stings when pointed outward. Younger workers now use it while planning their exit, which is a different joke entirely.
Get shachiku in your pocket
社畜 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.
