tteiuka / っていうか / って言うか

[graz71]

Hi,

I am learning casual japanese conversation and would somebody help me in explaining that expression (in English only please):

tteiuka / っていうか　

kawaiiwayone. tteiuka, boseihonnou wo kusugurutteiuka.
かわいいわよね。っていうか、母性本能をくすぐるっていうか。

kyou　sugoi atsui yone. tteiuka, saunafurumitai...
今日すごい暑いよね。っていうか、ｻｳﾅふるみたい。。。

nanka, konoarubaito, shindoiyone.
なんか、このｱﾙﾊﾞｲﾄ、しんどいよね。
tteiuka, tenchou ga kibishisugiru n da yo. tokuni oretachi ni sa
っていうか、店長が厳しすぎるんだよ。特に俺たちにさ。

It's not only about translation but understanding the grammatical structure.

Thanks

 

[spu001]

Hi, graz,

That's a slang expression. As that's just chatter, it's a sloppy way of saying "というか(to iu ka)".
というか means "to put it another way" or "in other words," also, "it's more of x than y(y to iu ka x da)".
But young folks often don't use that to logically express their opinions.
For them, it's more of "you know what?" or "well, eh" -- isn't it like abused English words like "actually" or something?
Although, in your first and second examples, the translation "to put it another way" works well, in reality, they speak off-handedly -- especially in the third one, they are talking to each other lazily.

And, without the fillers, they indeed work:
1. Kawaii wayo ne, bosei-honnō o kusuguru tteiuka (He's kawaii isn't he? My maternal instincts are kicking in.)
2. Kyō sugoi atsui yone, sauna mitai (It's scorching hot today, like sauna) -- I don't understand what "furu" is -- I think it's unnecessary.
3. Nanka, kono arubaito shindoi yone / Tenchō ga kibishi sugiru n dayo, tokuni ore tachi ni sa. (This part-time job is a pain in the neck, isn't it? / The manager is too hard, especially on us.)
Because they don't refer to anything in the parts before them.

But we can't omit it if it works properly : スープというかシチューだ (sūpu to iu ka shichū da: it's more of stew than soup") <-- you can replace というか with the rude one: スープっていうかシチューだ.

And quick one about the structure of というか:
と(a particle) いう(to say : "と" works like "that" so you can put a sentence before と) か(a particle: appears at the end of a phrase or a sentence to show you're saying that sentence/phrase in a tentative way.)

Hope that helps,
Spu

 

[graz71]

Wouah! Thank you Spu!