お疲れ (otsukare)

What it means

1. 1.

   The all-purpose workplace greeting: hello, goodbye, well done, thanks for your effort. Said on arrival, on leaving, in corridors and at the end of anything.

2. 2.

   Casual or downward only in its short form. To a superior the full お疲れ様です is required, and 乙 — written with the kanji for 'second' because it reads otsu — is internet-only.

   ご苦労様 looks like a synonym and is not: it is said downward, and using it to a superior is a notable gaffe.

Literally: You are tired.

Examples with translations

• お疲れ様でした。お先に失礼します。

  Thanks for your work today. I'll head off first.

  Note: The standard formula for leaving an office before your colleagues.

• おつかれー、また明日。

  See you, night — tomorrow then.

Other forms

Romanised as:

otsukare

Spellings and variants:

お疲れ様, おつ, 乙