知(し)らんけど

Originally 関西弁(かんさいべん), this phrase spread nationwide through social media and TV during the 2010s and is now used by speakers with no connection to Kansai.

Structure: 知(し)らん is the Kansai (and wider western) negative of 知(し)る, where standard Japanese uses 知(し)らない, plus the concessive けど ("though").

Usage: Tacked onto the end of a statement to disclaim responsibility for its accuracy. The speaker passes information along while signalling they cannot vouch for it. It follows a complete sentence and is usually spoken as its own short unit, after a pause.

Usage

• Softens an assertion and avoids sounding too authoritative
• Standard when relaying rumor or hearsay, often after らしい or って
• Frequently a joke - the speaker has just given confident advice and then undercuts it, which is much of the appeal
• Casual only: it would be evasive or flippant in a work or service setting

Forms

• 知(し)らんけど - the Kansai-origin form, and the one that spread
• 知(し)らないけど - the standard-Japanese wording; grammatical, but without the set-phrase flavor
• 分(わ)からんけど - "not that I understand it"; less fixed as a catchphrase