別に literally means “separately”, but in speech it means “not particularly”. Said on its own, 別に… is a curt “whatever”.
Inside a sentence (別にいいよ, 別に急ぎじゃない) it is ordinary casual speech. Said alone as an answer, 別に… sounds cold or sulky, so be careful with anyone you want to impress.
One performer is watching Watanabe's reactions and calling them a sign of growth, then asks Watanabe directly, 'Well?'
Culture note A flat, sulky '別に' is the stereotypical one-word answer of a Japanese teenager.
'Well' what? Nothing, really.
Textbookどうと言われても、特にありません。'どうって' clips 'どうと言われても'; '別に' alone replaces '特にありません', leaving the rest unsaid.
Someone calls out for a doctor in an emergency but adds very specific demands about what kind of doctor they will accept.
A female doctor would be fine too, right? It doesn't matter.
Textbook女性のお医者さんでも、特に問題はないでしょう。'でしょう' becomes blunt 'だろ', and '別に' (≈'特に') is tacked on at the end: 'there's no particular problem, is there?'
After being scolded for saying silly things about Japan, one performer brings up sake and insists on saying one thing about it.
What's wrong with sake? It's fine.
Textbook日本酒は特に問題ないでしょう。Afterthought 「別に」 means "no problem with it, whatever"; 「いいだろ」 is the blunt male form of 「いいでしょう」, with word order flipped.
A classmate asks if they're close with Misaki, a girl they've gone to school with from kindergarten through high school.
Not really. We're just childhood friends.
Textbook特に仲がいいわけではありません。ただの幼馴染です。「別に」 stands alone for 「別に仲よくない」; the negative is dropped, leaving a curt "not really." 「です」 is also dropped.
The narrator describes a girl they liked in junior high and her habit at pedestrian crossings.
so it didn't seem like she was in any particular hurry.
Textbook特に急いでいるわけでもなさそうなのです。「別に」 replaces 「特に」 before the negative 「わけでもなさそう」: "not in any particular hurry." The narration itself stays polite with 「のです」.
While arguing about which towns are hard to live in, one performer is told they must live somewhere very comfortable.
Culture note Laputa is the floating castle in Studio Ghibli's 'Castle in the Sky'; Hachioji is a distant suburb in western Tokyo.
Nah, it's not that great, really.
Textbookいえ、特にそれほどでもありません。'それほどでもありません' shrinks to 'そんなでもないよ', and '別に' (≈'特に') is added at the end as an afterthought.
From other routines in the library. Automatic transcripts, not yet checked line by line.
別に means “not really / whatever”. 別に literally means “separately”, but in speech it means “not particularly”. Said on its own, 別に… is a curt “whatever”.
With friends: OK. With coworkers: careful. With a boss or teacher: avoid. Inside a sentence (別にいいよ, 別に急ぎじゃない) it is ordinary casual speech. Said alone as an answer, 別に… sounds cold or sulky, so be careful with anyone you want to impress.
In 1,905 live comedy routines, 別に appears in 421 lines from 129 comedians.