>People exclaim kawaii liberally —about as liberally as “oishi” for food delicious or just so-so.
There are four sets of people.
People who know 100% what kawaii is (e.g. because they're Japanese).
People who know 90% what kawaii is (because they're cultural freaks, or watch anime, or whatever)
People who have heard the term kawaii and associate with being "cute" in general.
People who don't even know what kawaii means, and don't use it.
Categories 1,2, and 3 are by far the larger in my experience (well, 1 is small except in Japan, 2 is small, 3 is small, 4 is huge). People in 1,3,4 added, category 3 is nearly insignificant, and doesn't define the term...
There are four sets of people.
People who know 100% what kawaii is (e.g. because they're Japanese).
People who know 90% what kawaii is (because they're cultural freaks, or watch anime, or whatever)
People who have heard the term kawaii and associate with being "cute" in general.
People who don't even know what kawaii means, and don't use it.
Categories 1,2, and 3 are by far the larger in my experience (well, 1 is small except in Japan, 2 is small, 3 is small, 4 is huge). People in 1,3,4 added, category 3 is nearly insignificant, and doesn't define the term...