いわゆる | Grammar

Structure

いわゆる + [noun]

Description

いわゆる means "so-called" or "what you'd call": the noun after it is a label people already use for this kind of thing. It goes in front of the noun phrase and never changes form.

。

He is what you'd call a genius.

。

That's what they call an urban legend.

。

So-called globalization is moving ahead.

The noun phrase can start with a clause, as long as it ends in a noun: いわゆるくうきをよむ空気を読むということ, "what's called reading the room". いわゆる does not end a sentence and does not go before a bare verb or adjective.

Keeping a label at arm's length

Like English "so-called", いわゆる can borrow someone else's word without endorsing it. The term often goes in 「」 to make that plain.

きごう「きごう」。

I don't want to be one of the so-called "winners".

いわゆる or いわば

いわゆる points to a name that already exists for the thing. いわば ("so to speak") makes up a comparison of your own.

。

This is what's called shitamachi, the old downtown.

、。

This town is, so to speak, one big family.

"One big family" is not an established term for a town, so いわゆる does not fit the second sentence.

Register

いわゆる is at home in speech and in writing. Essays and news reports use it when they introduce a technical or fashionable term.

Examples

。

This is what is called the bubble economy.

。

She has followed what you'd call an elite career path.

。

What is called "reading the air" is important in Japan.

。

I think that's what you'd call common sense.

。

I worked at a so-called "black company" for three years.

。

He's what you'd call a lone wolf type.

。

The so-called generation gap is probably the cause.

。

This area is what's called "shitamachi", the old downtown.

。

The so-called lifetime employment system is changing.

。

That movie is what you'd call a masterpiece.

。

So-called influencers are promoting the product.

。

This is merely what is called the tip of the iceberg.

References

いわゆるBunpro