Remember this from two lessons ago:

A：土曜日映画行こうよ。
どようび　えいが　いこう　よ。
Let's go to a movie on Saturday.
Literally: "Saturday + movie + let's go + よ."

B：土曜日はちょっとなぁ。
どようび　は　ちょっと　なぁ。
Saturday's tough for me.
Literally: "Saturday + は + a little bit + なぁ."

...?

No?

I understand. Studying is for chumps, right?

Oh wait, that can't be right.

You know, we can twist that ( ↑ ) usage of ちょっと anytime we want to say something isn't so great... without explicitly saying something isn't so great:

A：どう？似合う？
どう？　にあう？
What do you think? How does it look?
Literally: "how? + suits (me)?"
Note: For example, this person might be trying on a shirt at a clothing store... or at home before a party or something.

B：ん〜、そのシャツはちょっとー...
ん～、 その　シャツ　は　ちょっとー...
Mhmm, yeah, I'm not sure about that shirt...
Literally: "Mhmm, + that + shirt + は + a little bit."
Note: The nuance is that the shirt doesn't look good.

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Sudden New Usage of ちょっと！

We also saw two lessons ago how ちょっと can mean something like "Hey!" when you're telling someone, "Hey! Stop it!"

Like this:

ちょっとやめてよ！
ちょっと　やめて　よ！
Hey, stop it!
Literally: "a little bit + stop + よ！"
Note: For example, if someone is poking your arm for three minutes straight, you can yell this at them.

But it can also be the type of "Hey!" said just to get someone's attention.

Are you ready for the crazy part?

OK, so: While the "Hey ちょっと" above sounds angry or irritated, the "Hey ちょっと" below is nicer.

It's less like "Hey!" and more like "Excuse me."

ちょっとお姉さん、財布落としましたよ。
ちょっと　おねえさん、 さいふ　おとしました　よ。
Excuse me, Miss. You dropped your wallet.
Literally: "a little bit + older sister, + wallet + dropped + よ."
Note: Oh yeah, you can call a woman in her 20's or 30's "older sister." Similarly, sometimes old ladies will call me お兄さん (おにいさん // older brother).

↑ Maybe I should write a lesson about that note... someday... soonish...

ちょっとお客さん、起きてください！
ちょっと　おきゃくさん、 おきてください！
Excuse me, sir. Please wake up!
Literally: "a little bit + customer-san, + wake up + please!"

ちょっとすいません。
ちょっと　すいません。
Excuse me.
Literally: "a little bit + excuse me."
Note: Adding ちょっと to すいません makes it sound like you're getting someone's attention for something that's not a big deal. You should try using it the next time you need to ask a stranger for directions. Or maybe if you need to reach in front of someone to grab something off of a shelf at the grocery store.

You can also say:

ちょっとごめんなさい。
ちょっと　ごめんなさい。
Excuse me.
Literally: "a little bit + sorry."
Note: This has pretty much the same meaning as ちょっとすいません, but you wouldn't use it when trying to ask for directions. You would, however, use it when reaching in front of someone to grab something at the grocery store.

If you're with a friend, you can also say:

ちょっとごめん。
ちょっと　ごめん。
Excuse me.
Literally: "a little bit + sorry."
Note: Although this is the same as ちょっとごめんなさい, saying only ちょっとごめん would be rude with a stranger.

Let's. Switch. Gears.

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We can also snap ちょっと onto the front of sentence to "lighten it."

That is, when talking about something I'm about to do, I can make it sound like a small thing by adding ちょっと to the front of the sentence.

Like this, yo:

ちょっと買い物行ってくる。
ちょっと　かいもの　いって　くる。
I'm gonna run to the store real quick.
Literally: "a little bit + shopping + go (and) + come."

If you're mad skilled, you can also use this ちょっと in front of a sentence that is clearly not a small, easy, lighthearted thing.

This is called "joking," and I'm very bad at it.

ちょっとドラゴン倒してくる。
ちょっと　ドラゴン　たおして　くる。
Imma go kill this dragon real quick.
Literally: "a little bit + dragon + defeat / knock down (and) + come."

Joke Disclaimer: If you don't have awesome intonation skills and master fluency, Japanese people will miss most of your jokes. Worse, sometimes they'll correct the Japanese you were intentionally messing up as a joke. Once, earlier this year, Rei and I were out with one of her friends, and she said, "You're so much better at Japanese now. You make jokes." It was rad... but it took me a long time to get to that point. And I still mess it up from time to time. Anyways, it's something to look forward to mastering.