Last week my sister had a baby:

I wasn't at the hospital or anything, but I still used this as an excuse for not getting all of my work done last week.

As such, I sent that picture to my editor in Tokyo and told him the good news.

This was his response:

甥御さんのお誕生、おめでとう！
赤ちゃんの写真、超カワイイ！
(これじゃ、女子中学生のノリだ^^)

Can you read that?

No worries, if not. I'll translate:

甥御さんのお誕生、おめでとう！
おいごさん　の　おたんじょう、 おめでとう！
Congratulations on the birth of your nephew!
Literally: “nephew-san + の + お-birth, + congratulations!”

赤ちゃんの写真、超カワイイ！
あかちゃん　の　しゃしん、 ちょう　かわいい！
The baby's picture is SO cute!
Literally: “baby + の + picture, + super- + cute!”

(これじゃ、女子中学生のノリだ^^)
(これじゃ、 じょしちゅうがくせい　の　ノリ　だ ^^)
(I sound like a junior high school girl. ^^)
Literally: “in this way, + junior high school girl + の + mood / enthusiasm + だ”

Reading his message, it occurred to me that I was never taught this usage of ノリ in books or classes (that's nori, for those of you who have been slacking on your katakana studies). So why don't we learn it here?

First we'll need to look at...

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乗る (のる // to ride; to board) is one of the most widely used verbs in Japanese.

And it has many forms, too. Here are just some of the uses we've seen in past lessons:

俺助手席乗る！
おれ　じょしゅせき　のる！
I call front seat! // I'm gonna sit in the front!
Literally: “I + passenger seat + ride!”
Note: From [NDL #108] - Making babies... uh, I mean, marriage...

終電に乗り損ねてしまった。
しゅうでん　に　のりそこねて　しまった。
I failed to get my last train.
Literally: “last train + に + failed to board / ride.”
Note: From [NDL #227] - Failing to Make Connections.

調子に乗るな！
ちょうし　に　のるな！
Don't get carried away.
Literally: “tune + に + ride + な.”
Note: From [NDL #73] - My Condition Is Bad, Part I.

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BUT! We're not looking at 乗る in this lesson. We're looking at ノリ.

This word comes from 乗り(のり), but usually ノリ is written in katakana.

Dictionaries don't do a very good job of defining this word. Or rather, English doesn't do a very good job of defining this word.

Here is a sample entry:

ノリ
(getting into the) mood; (entering into the) spirit; energy; enthusiasm; rhythm; feeling

To make things simple, I'll just write "mood / flow" in our literal breakdowns of examples. For the most part, though, I think you should avoid trying to translate this word into English.

Some things are better left un-translated.

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Check out this sentence:

奈々恵ちゃんってノリいいよね！
ななえちゃん　って　ノリ　いい　よ　ね！
Nanae-chan’s up for anything, isn’t she?
Literally: “Nanae-chan + って + mood / flow + good + よ + ね！”

If you are a ノリのいい人 (のりのいいひと), a "good ノリ person," you would, for example, happily agree when someone suddenly suggests to go to the beach in the midst of a 飲み会 (のみかい // drinking party). Also, you would likely chug if someone said "Chug! Chug!"

I'm tempted to translate it as "going with the flow," but that sounds a little less enthusiastic. In the translation above, I put "up for anything," but I don't think that really captures it too well, either.

By the way, ノリの悪い人 (のりのわるいひと), "bad ノリ people," also exist. This type of person is a downer, a wet towel. No fun. It's the type of person that stops his friends from going through with a funny prank (oh wait, this is sounding like me now).

But not only people have "good" or "bad" ノリ. We can also use it for things. For example, if you're in the car with your friend, and you want to start bumping some club music, you might say...

もっとノリのいい曲かけようよ。
もっと　ノリ　の　いい　きょく　かけよう　よ。
Let’s put on something more upbeat.
Literally: “more + mood / flow + の + good + song + let’s put on + よ”

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In this next sentence we have ノリ more or less meaning "mood," but it doesn't get translated as "mood, feeling, flow," or any of that stuff:

ハリウッドセレブは俺がごぼうを買うノリで家とか買ってるんだろうなー。
ハリウッドセレブ　は　おれ　が　ごぼう　を　かう　ノリ　で　いえ　とか　かってる　ん　だろう　なー。
Hollywood celebrities probably buy houses and stuff the way I buy gobo at the store.
Literally: “Hollywood celebs + は + I + が + gobo (=burdock) + を + buy + mood / flow + で + house + and so on (=とか) + are buying + ん + だろう + なー.”

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Consider this somewhat reckless couple:

会ったその日にノリで結婚しちゃいました！
あった　その　ひ　に　ノリ　で　けっこん　しちゃいました！
We got so worked up on the day we met that we went and got married!
Literally: “met + that + day + に + mood / flow + で + marriage / wedding + did!”

Sentences like this make me imagine that ノリ is "the flow" that you catch a ride on. It helps that this also reminds me of the verb 乗る. It also reminds me of the phrase 調子に乗る (ちょうしにのる // to get carried away), which we touched on in this lesson.

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Last but not least, note that when we say ノリ twice, ノリノリ, it means something like "in high spirits" or "with lots of enthusiasm."

ノリノリだね！
ノリノリ　だ　ね！
He’s really into it, huh?
Literally: “in high spirits + だ + ね！”
Note: For example, you could say this when watching a friend dancing with supreme concentration, or screaming with joy beside your 10-year niece while they race in Mario Kart.

You could also use ノリノリ when you tell your friend "I know a good guy for you!" and she responds with "Really? When can I see him? What's he like? Thank you! Send me some pictures of him!" and so on...