Are you NEET?

May 24, 2006 7:12 PM

For those of you who don't live in Japan and who aren't familiar with its culture: Do you know the term NEET?

I'm translating a Japanese film into English right now, and the word "niito" (NEET: Not in Education, Employment or Training") appears a lot. NEET is a phrase apparently coined in the UK, and here in Japan, it's a word everyone knows (used as a noun). But I need to know how common it is outside the country. Did you know the meaning of this word before you read this post? If I wrote something like, "A million people are NEET in Japan," would you understand what I was talking about right away?
And is there a more common English equivalent that I could use to translate this term, or is it a specifically Japanese phenomenon that needs explaining no matter what? Thanks a lot in advance.

posted by misozaki to Writing & Language (42 answers total)

I know the term NEET but that's because I'm in the UK. Still a valid answer to your question though ;-) I probably wouldn't understand it in speech though unless you explicitly spelt it out because it sounds too much like 'neat'. I guess it's also easier to think about a meaning when you read (I had to think for five seconds before I remembered the term).

I'd quite easily say that none of my friends or my girlfriend would have any idea what this term is, though. You'd need to be a bit of a media junkie, I think.
posted by wackybrit at 7:16 PM on May 24, 2006

I've never heard this term. It sounds like a pesticide. It's quite clear upon explanation, but explanation is definitely needed.
posted by MadamM at 7:17 PM on May 24, 2006

Best answer: Never heard it before. (US) Slacker?
posted by johngumbo at 7:17 PM on May 24, 2006

Australian here that has had lots of long conversations with Japanese regarding culture and lifestyle differences and the term has never come up.
posted by tellurian at 7:18 PM on May 24, 2006

Best answer: BTW, alternative words could include 'slacker', 'destitute', or in the UK, 'chav', although each has its own flavor which makes it reasonably different to what NEET implies. It depends on the context in this film though, since NEET could refer to a retiree or millionaire as much as it can refer to a 20 year old slacker.
posted by wackybrit at 7:18 PM on May 24, 2006

Never heard of it. Wouldn't know what you were talking about. Either explain it, or use the english word "unemployed".
posted by jellicle at 7:19 PM on May 24, 2006

Never heard of it. If I read that sentence I might assume it was an acronym, if I was confident that the author was a competent English speaker, but I would have no idea what it meant.
posted by oddman at 7:21 PM on May 24, 2006

"Unemployed" won't work because students are technically unemployed, though they are apparently not NEET.
posted by oddman at 7:23 PM on May 24, 2006

Response by poster: Wow, so many answers, and so fast! Thank you, this is exactly what I needed to know.

wackybrit: 20 year old slackers, lots of 'em, creating a social problem.

jellicle: a NEET in Japan isn't merely unemployed, s/he's someone who is doing nothing, and has no desire to do anything.

"Slacker" sounds close, but is it too US slangy?
posted by misozaki at 7:27 PM on May 24, 2006

Best answer: After some reading, I think the Australian English equivalent is 'bludger'.
posted by tellurian at 7:28 PM on May 24, 2006

Unemployed, doing nothing and having no desire to do anything? 'Slacker' is probably the best single-word American English translation.
posted by box at 7:30 PM on May 24, 2006

slacker sounds right to me (US, btw)
posted by MadamM at 7:36 PM on May 24, 2006

Slacker- US/Canada
posted by purplefiber at 7:37 PM on May 24, 2006

Best answer: Slacker is normally/often used to refer to people who are doing something, they're just not putting effort into it.

Deadbeat sounds closer to me, but it's a pretty harsh term.

layabout?
loafer, sponger, are some others.
posted by -harlequin- at 8:05 PM on May 24, 2006

Best answer: Also maybe freeloaders, or "on the dole" (possibly more UK, but known in the US - also maybe misleading). Possibly indigent or destitute, though by choice.

Maybe it would be best to just use the NEET acronym, and after the first use, parenthetically explain it just as you did in your question.
posted by attercoppe at 8:07 PM on May 24, 2006

Best answer: I will confirm `bludger' as being a good Australian equivalent. It's a shortening of `dole bludger' implying not just a layabout but someone who is a drain on the taxpayer.
posted by tomble at 8:28 PM on May 24, 2006

Response by poster: Maybe it would be best to just use the NEET acronym, and after the first use, parenthetically explain it just as you did in your question.

Ah, but you see, I'm working on the subtitles, and don't have much room (i.e. the number of letters I can use are very limited).

Well, at least now I know that the consensus seems to be, "No." Except in the UK where it's, "Sort of."

Thanks, all!
posted by misozaki at 8:32 PM on May 24, 2006

Apparently what it actually stands for is "Not in Education, Employment or Training."

I sure as hell haven't run into it before. How about "lazy bum"? That's what my parents would have said, anyway.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 8:47 PM on May 24, 2006

Oops; I didn't see that the asker already posted the acronym. My apologies.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 8:48 PM on May 24, 2006

Freeta :)? or just 'long-term unemployment'? Thats a lot of letters though.
posted by ejoey at 9:23 PM on May 24, 2006

My friends call it early retirement. Never heard NEET in Canada.
posted by loquax at 9:24 PM on May 24, 2006

i am putaro now. hi, misozaki-san!
posted by dydecker at 10:00 PM on May 24, 2006

Response by poster: Niito, freeta, putaro... so many words to categorize what is basically the same thing just goes to show the Japanese don't fit that stereotype of the hard-working "salaryman" anymore! Hi, dydecker-san, putaro banzai!
posted by misozaki at 10:23 PM on May 24, 2006

(Former HKer) Western urban Canadian.

Nope - but I've heard about 'Not in Education, Employment or Training' as an acronym but wouldn't recognize said acronym.
posted by porpoise at 10:35 PM on May 24, 2006

I'm from Canada, currently living in Japan, and I've never heard of NEET before.
posted by nightchrome at 10:46 PM on May 24, 2006

I think it depends on the context. By the sounds of it, it sounds to be neutrally informative, rather than as a slur.

I'd suggest simply using "unemployed".
posted by cheaily at 11:03 PM on May 24, 2006

I'm translating a Japanese film into English right now, and the word "niito" (NEET: Not in Education, Employment or Training")

I had no idea what you meant even when you expanded the acronym. "Unemployed" would be the best term.
posted by delmoi at 11:06 PM on May 24, 2006

The only NEET I've heard of is the depilatory cream.
posted by zarah at 11:06 PM on May 24, 2006

It's a shortening of `dole bludger'
tomble, I'm not so sure about that. From the Macquarie:

bludger
noun (Derogatory) 1. someone who imposes on others, evades responsibilities, does not do a fair share of the work, etc. 2. Obsolete a man living on the earnings of a prostitute; a pimp. [a variant of earlier thieve's slang bludgeoner a thug who uses a bludgeon]

I think we had bludgers before the dole came in.
posted by tellurian at 11:07 PM on May 24, 2006

cheaily, according to this article it is being used as a slur in Japan.
"Since unemployed people actively seeking work are not counted as niito, niito are viewed as lazy elements who pose a burden to society and threaten the public order."
posted by tellurian at 11:18 PM on May 24, 2006

I'm in the UK, work in Westminster, and hence am very familiar with the term NEET. It's a technical term (used particularly with reference to young people: see page from Department for Education and Skills as an example) - chav and other slang words are not really equivalents. They are more about something cultural, whereas NEET means something very specific (and could span class, area, ages, etc).
posted by greycap at 11:23 PM on May 24, 2006

Response by poster: It's hard to translate (and now I know I have to translate it), because "niito" (NEET) as it's being used in Japanese does have negative connotations, like tellurian pointed out, but wouldn't go so far as being a slur, like "slacker," or "bludger" (the latter, BTW, is a word I was unfamiliar with until now), as greycap says. It's a term that describes the people who fit a certain category, described in detail in the article tellurian linked to (thanks), that is becoming a social problem here. But I appreciate all the input; it's good to hear different ideas from people with different backgrounds.
posted by misozaki at 11:46 PM on May 24, 2006

If you just say "unemployed", Americans will understand what you mean. Students may technically be unemployed, but they're not generally referred to that way. They're referred to as students.
posted by squidlarkin at 12:12 AM on May 25, 2006

Since unemployed people actively seeking work are not counted as niito, niito are viewed as lazy elements who pose a burden to society and threaten the public order.

Permanently unemployed. I agree with squidlarkin. Students are not commonly referred to as unemployed in the US.
posted by malp at 4:32 AM on May 25, 2006

I think the US equivalent would be the phrase "doesn't work".
posted by fshgrl at 6:59 AM on May 25, 2006

I'm not sure that unemployed is what you're going for. To me, unemployed means not working but actively looking for work. This is also the definition that economists use when they put together unemployment statistics. (This makes sense when you consider that the US unemployment rate is currently a bit less than 5%. If you factored in all the retirees, students, and those simply too young to work, that number would be considerably higher, probably in the range of 30 - 50%.) Slacker seems like a better choice to me.
posted by HiddenInput at 7:25 AM on May 25, 2006

I'm in the UK, never heard this term before.
posted by teleskiving at 7:40 AM on May 25, 2006

I'm in the US, and have never heard it. I might have heard of "slacker" though...
posted by educatedslacker at 8:26 AM on May 25, 2006

US -- no, never seen it.
posted by knave at 8:55 AM on May 25, 2006

Japanophile in the US, never heard of. (Thanks!) Related terms might include yutori - slack; to take it easy; and furita - people who work part-time, without job security.
posted by Rash at 10:49 AM on May 25, 2006

Best answer: When I lived in the UK I saw the term "unwaged" a lot -- as in, tickets 10 quid, 5 for unwaged, 3 for children. I always read it as a sensitive way of making a concession for unemployed people and students.
posted by Rumple at 12:13 PM on May 25, 2006

Just to throw in something new, in touristy hippie towns in the US west, you get these group of kids with dreadlocks that play hacky sack all the time and eat vegetarian food, smoke weed, and don't work because they have family money somehow. The term I've heard is "trustafarian," (ie, "he's a trustafarian,") a cross between "trust fund" (the family money) and "rastafarian." Everyone in those towns knows that term, but my parents on the US East Coast don't, so it's not universal enough for subtitles.
posted by salvia at 11:53 PM on May 26, 2006