Power of Oishii おいしいOishii/Umai うまい

English: good, nice, delicious, tasty

Spanish: bien, delicioso, sabroso, rico

Tagalog: masarap

Yakitori (chicken bbq) and edamame (boiled green soybeans) go best with beer.

The word oishii おいしい is from old Japanese ishi いし. Then a lady language o お was prefixed later.

English and Spanish have several expressions for oishii おいしい but Japanese almost always use oishii おいしい when the taste is good.

● このラーメン、おいしいです。 (Kono ramen oishii desu.)

This ramen is good.

Ramen ラーメン/らーめん is one of the typical noodle dishes. Some people can't stop having it after drinking.

● 味 (あじ) はどう？―おいしい！ (Aji-wa dou?―Oishii!)

How’s the taste?―Good!

● この店 (みせ) は、おいしいケーキで有名 (ゆうめい) ですよ。(Kono mise-wa oishii keeki-de yuumei-desu- yo.)

This bakery is famous for nice cake.

Many visitors to Japan might feel sweets there are not actually 'sweet,' so they're not good enough. Naturally many Japanese can't eat sweets from abroad because they are too sweet for them.

● このお寿司 (すし)、おいしくて、おいしくて、ほっぺたが落 (お) ちそうです。(Kono osushi, oishiku-te, oishiku-te, hoppeta-ga, ochisou-desu.)

The sushi is so delicious that I feel as if my cheeks go dancing.

● とってもおいしそうなももです。(Tottemo oishisou-na momo-desu.)

The peach (or peaches) looks (or look) very delicious.

● 天 (てん) ぷらをおいしく揚 (あ) げる方法 (ほうほう) は？ (Tempura-o oishiku ageru houhou-wa?)

Do you know how to fry delicious tempura?

Kaiten-zushi 回転寿司 かいてんずし is a sushi restaurant where they serve sushi on a belt conveyer.

Bimi 美味(びみ)

Bimi 美味(びみ) is a written language for oishii おいしい. You can use the kanji, 美味 びみ and put しい after, then you’ll get oishii 美味しい (おいしい) as well. It’s NEVER read bimi-shii.

If you exclaim “BIMI!” when you’re asked how the taste is, most Japanese will laugh happily because they're amazed that you know such a language and think you used it in a humorous way.

Umai うまい/美味(うま)い

Umai うまい/美味い(うまい) is an impolite, informal, friendly word. Ladies should especially be careful for using umai うまい because some Japanese ladies may never say umai and feel the word is not decent.

Uma!/Umaa! うまっ！/うまー！

This is short forms of umai うまい. Uma! or umaa! is a slang and was originally used among young people like high schoolers. Now the words have popularity among all generations.

A homonym 'uma' うま means a horse. The two words have no linguistic relation, however.

A homonym of uma うま means a horse.

The reduction of i い for adjectives has citizenship now as slang and exclamation: dekai でかい huge→deka! でかっ!, kusai くさい stink→kusa! くさっ!, hayai はやい quick or early→haya! はやっ！, etc.

Mai-u! まいうー！

This word is an inversion of 'u' and 'mai.' A famous TV talent uses it and has became popular.

Ii-yo いいよ good/no problem

A person may answer ii-yo when asked how the taste is. Ii-yo does not always mean delicious. The person may be the chief cook or boss of the other and checks the taste in a restaurant or kitchen―just giving permission to serve the dish.

● お味 (あじ) はいかがでしょうか？―いいよ。(Oaji-wa ikaga-desyouka?―Ii-yo.)

Could you check how the taste is?―Good. Go ahead.

Oishii is used figuratively as well.

Oishii is used figuratively for other things like stories, plots, offers or positions.

● おいしい話 (はなし) には気 (き) を付 (つ) けた方(ほう) が良 (よ) い。 (Oishii hanashi-niwa kio-tsuketa-hou-ga yoi.)

You should be careful about an offer which sounds too good to be true.

● 彼女 (かのじょ) はおいしいな。(Kanojo-wa oishii-na.)

She has advantages. (She stands in a position where she can enjoy more benefits than others. They think she gets them unfairly without sweat. So she is envied.)

Umai うまい/上手 (うま) い/巧 (うま) い

Umai also means 'good at doing something,' but other kanji like 上手い or 巧い is applied for this sense.

In addition, this usage is NEITHER impolite NOR informal.

● あの男 (おとこ) の子 (こ) は歌 (うた) がうまい。(Ano otoko-no ko-wa uta-ga umai.)

That boy sings well.

● うまい絵 (え) だなあ。(Umai e-da-na-a.)

How good the drawing is!

The antonyms of oishii おいしい and umai うまい are oishi-ku-nai おいしくない, umaku-nai うまくない, or mazui まずい/不味 (まず) い. Mazui is the strongest word.