equivalent word in English? - すごいSugoi?
Hey, I have a question...

Long time ago, I was texting with someone who was studying Japanese.
He told me a story from his childhood, which was quite shocking to me, so I said "すごい (sugoi)".
It meant neither "great" nor "awesome", but he misunderstood and thought I liked the story.

すごい doesn't always mean "great" or "awesome". It depends on the situation, but sometimes this word expresses disgust, too. In this case, I was like "oh my god... how could you do that?" or something like that.

And I am wondering if there is an equivalent word in English... is there?

Question

equivalent word in English? - すごいSugoi?
Hey, I have a question...

Long time ago, I was texting with someone who was studying Japanese.
He told me a story from his childhood, which was quite shocking to me, so I said "すごい (sugoi)".
It meant neither "great" nor "awesome", but he misunderstood and thought I liked the story.

すごい doesn't always mean "great" or "awesome". It depends on the situation, but sometimes this word expresses disgust, too. In this case, I was like "oh my god... how could you do that?" or something like that.
  
And I am wondering if there is an equivalent word in English... is there?

Answer

@Zsuzsanna I see that you are not native, but maybe you are right. Thanks! :D

Answer

I'm thinking about 'terrific' - the word has a double meaning, great, and something like shocking or terrible.

Answer

@Charles  Can I say just "so" or "really"? I guess I need to add an adjective after those. Am I wrong? すごい can mean "very", but you can use it alone, too, and it doesn't always mean awesome.

Answer

"so " or "really ".

You are right. I remember a dialogue with strangers in Shibuya that ended with すげ偉そう (so self important / too pride of oneself ).
I would translate this すごい／すげ by the negative meaning in English of "so " or "really ".

Answer

@Tyler  I couldn't find the word,, "woah" in the dictionary, but I'll remember that. Thanks! :D

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