だの〜だの
- 1Lists complaints someone makes, conveying the speaker’s irritation.Ex. 1
- 2Lists excuses someone gives, with a critical tone.Ex. 2
- 3Lists things or actions without necessarily quoting anyone.
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Often conversational, this pattern can sound dismissive or exasperated, especially when listing complaints or excuses. With と and a verb of saying, as in both examples, it reports what someone says; it can also list things or actions without quoting speech.
Do not assume the listed items must be quoted speech; they can also be things or actions.
Note that nouns and な-adjectives can also retain だ before だの.
- 〜やら〜やらN1〜やら〜やら also lists examples, but it emphasizes that things are numerous and chaotic, and it can pair interwoven emotions to convey mixed feelings; its critical nuance is mild, its register is neutral, and it often takes で to express a cause.
- なんか / なんてN3When なんか/なんて attaches to a noun, it mentions only one item meaning 'things like ~', with a dismissive or humble nuance, and it can also attach to a sentence to express surprise; だの must list multiple items in pairs, usually quoting someone else's complaints or remarks, so the two are generally not interchangeable.
- とかN5とか is neutral in listing and works in objective introductions and positive contexts; it can be used just once as in AとかB, and it can also mean 'I heard that'. When complaining, you can swap in とか, but the critical tone becomes weaker.
- 〜たり〜たりするN3〜たり〜たりする is neutral in tone, usable in objective or positive descriptions, and can also mean 'sometimes... sometimes...'; it uses the ta-form and adds する at the end of the sentence. だの carries dissatisfaction and criticism, typically listing other people's remarks or excuses, and often takes と言う.
- やN5や only connects nouns and is neutral, used in both writing and speech; だの can also attach to verbs and adjectives, is used in pairs, carries dissatisfaction and criticism, typically lists others' complaints or excuses, and is limited to spoken language. For objective listing, だの cannot be used.
とか and や can list examples without this pattern’s often dismissive tone; 〜たり〜たりする lists representative actions. 〜やら〜やら can suggest confusion or trouble, while なんか／なんて singles out an item for emphasis or dismissal rather than forming a repeated list.
