Sukipi

Sukipi (好きピ) is a slang term meaning "the person you like". It primarily refers to a romantic partner or someone you have a crush on.

It is rarely used as a direct term of address. Instead, it comes up in conversations with friends or social media posts when talking about someone you are into. That said, sukipi is not strictly limited to romantic interests. It can also refer to close friends, favorite celebrities, idols, or anime characters.

Originally a word used for people, the cute sound of the "pi" ending led it to expand beyond that. You might hear someone say "kono okashi sukipi" (this snack is sukipi), using it simply as a cuter way of saying "I like this."

Sukipi spread mainly through social media and LINE among teenage girls. Men rarely use it, and the word has settled in as a distinctly feminine expression.

If a guy used sukipi to describe a male friend, it would probably feel a bit awkward.

Sukipi is a coined word that shortens suki na pīpuru (liked people), combining the Japanese word suki (like) with the English word "people."

The word emerged from a broader trend of adding pi to the end of words, known as pi-go (pi language). It started after paripi, a shortening of pātī pīpuru (party people), caught on among young people. The cute sound of pi attracted attention and spread to other words. Calling your boyfriend karepi or your oshi (favorite) oshipi follows the same pattern.

In 2018, sukipi appeared in the buzzword category of the Trends Chosen by Teenage Girls ranking by Mynavi Teens, giving it a major boost in recognition. It has been listed in Jiyūkokumin-sha's Gendai Yōgo no Kiso Chishiki (Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words) since the 2020 edition.

You might wonder why "people," a plural word, ended up in a term that usually refers to a single person you like. But languages borrowing words from other languages and shifting their meaning is nothing new.

How sukipi differs from oshi

Oshi refers to someone you like so much that you want to recommend them to others, carrying a sense of actively cheering them on and spreading the word. Sukipi, on the other hand, is rooted in the meaning "the person you like" and is often used with romantic feelings involved. If oshi leans toward "I want everyone to know about them," sukipi is closer to "I just really, really like them." In practice, though, the two overlap quite a bit, and there is no hard line between them.

Telling apart karepi, karepippi, and sukipi

This is a common explanation, though not an official rule: even among pi-go words with a similar ring, the person they refer to can differ. Karepi means your actual boyfriend, someone you are in a relationship with. Karepippi describes someone who is more than a friend but not quite a boyfriend. Sukipi covers a wider range and can apply to a romantic interest, a friend, or an oshi.

The world of pi-go

Adding pi to the end of words is known as pi-go (pi language), and it took root mainly among teenage girls. Well-known examples include oshipi (oshi + pi), karepi (boyfriend + pi), and shukipi (a playful twist on sukipi). The cute sound and the ease of typing made these words a natural fit for SNS, and they spread quickly.