ぼちぼち (bochi bochi): Meaning & Example Uses

As you may have guessed from the above example, ぼちぼち (bochi bochi) means "not bad" or "so-so". Personally I would say this sits more on the positive side of "not bad", but as with most things, a lot will depend on tone and context.

If you've already learnt a bit of Japanese, you may be familiar with this kind of exchange:

• A：元気ですか？(Genki desu ka? - Are you well? / How are you?)
• B：まあまあです。(Maa maa desu - I'm alright)

Or more casually:

• A：元気？(Genki? - You alright? / How're you?)
• B：うん、まあまあ。(Un, maa maa - Yeah, I'm okay / Yeah, not bad)

If you're getting a bit tired of まあまあ (maa maa), ぼちぼち (bochi bochi) is here to save the day! Here are some examples of how you can use it.

Example 1

• A：最近仕事はどう？ (Saikin shigoto wa dō? - How's work recently?)
• B：うーん、ぼちぼちだね。(Unn, bochi bochi da ne - Umm, not bad I guess.)

More formally, you could change B's response to ぼちぼちですね (bochi bochi desu ne).

Example 2

• A：最近どう？ (Saikin dō? - How have things been lately? / How have you been?)
• B：ぼちぼちやってる*。(Bochi bochi yatteru - Not bad / I've been doing okay)

*やってる comes from the verb やる, meaning to do. This is often used as a more casual version of する (suru).

More formally, you could change B's response to ぼちぼちやっています (bochi bochi yatteimasu).

Example 3

Returning to Kansai dialect, another option is:

• A：最近どう？ (Saikin dō? - How have things been lately? / How have you been?)
• B：ぼちぼちや*なあ。(Bochi bochi ya naa - Not bad)

*や (ya) is often used instead of だ (da) in Kansai dialect. だ (da) is the short form version of です (desu).