A fork of Rural Dictionary
A Japanese anime slang which signifies an inept and mentally unstable character who is always sincerely worry about something benign and crumbles by a slightest nudge.
But their acute behaviour is the very reason why others love (or laugh at) them. Self-inflicting hypochondriac but in a funny & harmless way.
Originally derived from an old Japanese colloquial expression 'he-tare' (constantly farting from one's mouth) which means someone tend to moan/sigh/squeal when facing a trivial problem. Also a term for underlings, lame animal/object.
Friend: Why did you call an emergency service when you got lost in the Metropolitan Library? Jane: because I should not disturb other people in a library...isn't that written in the law? If I made too much noise, a laser beam will poke my head and cook my brain! ...that small devices on the wall are for that, no? Friend: Haha...no (is she referring to CCTV cameras!?). Next time you got lost in a library just ask someone quietly but don't call an emergency service, OK? Jane: OK. -- Since then Jane is keenly learning sign language so that she can ask "where is the exit?" without making a noise. She reckons it's a brilliant solution, forgetting that not many hearing people can understand sign language. Well-meant but inept and eternally entertaining at their own cost, is HETARE.