地雷

• 読み: じらい
• ローマ字: jirai
• 漢字の分解: 地 (ground) + 雷 (thunder/mine) → hidden explosive danger underfoot
• 発音: /dʑi.ɾa.i/

意味

A landmine — something or someone that looks normal on the surface but turns out to be a hidden disaster.

Borrowed from the military term for landmine, 地雷 in slang describes people, products, restaurants, or situations that seem fine initially but reveal themselves to be terrible once you engage. It is especially popular in dating contexts (地雷女/地雷男 for someone who turns out to be a nightmare partner) and in consumer reviews. The word carries a sense of being blindsided by something unexpectedly awful.

例文

1. あの人、見た目は普通だけど完全に地雷だった。
2. マッチングアプリ地雷多すぎて疲れた。
3. このレストラン、地雷かと思ったけど意外と美味しかった。

使い方ガイド

場面: friends, dating, social media, reviews

トーン: wary, warning, disappointed

正しい言い方

• あの店地雷だから行かないほうがいいよ。 (That restaurant is a landmine — don't go.)
• マッチングアプリで地雷踏んだわ。 (I stepped on a landmine on the dating app.)

避ける言い方

• 本人の前で「地雷」呼ばわりはさすがに失礼 (Calling someone a 'landmine' to their face is genuinely rude)

よくある間違い

• Not understanding the 'hidden' nuance — 地雷 implies the problem was not obvious beforehand
• Using 地雷 for things that are openly bad — it specifically means something that looks OK but turns out terrible

起源と歴史

From the military term 地雷 (landmine). The figurative slang usage — describing hidden disasters — became popular in the 2000s–2010s through internet culture, dating discussions, and consumer reviews.

文化的背景

時代: 2000s–2010s internet and dating culture

世代: Millennials and Gen Z

社会的背景: Universal informal

地域メモ: Used nationwide. Especially common in dating app culture and online reviews.