あいつ、警察けいさつの前まえでは善人ぜんにんぶるのがうまいんだよ。
He’s a proper pro at acting like a saint in front of the feds.

Aight, so get this. When some guy is acting all that, pretending to be something they ain’t, that’s when you whip out ～ぶる. It’s for calling out a phoney. Like someone who’s not a big shot but acts like they run the manor. It’s got that cheeky, slightly negative vibe, you get me? It’s basically saying someone is putting on a front, playing a part. It’s not a compliment, blud. You’re pointing out they’re just faking it, trying to give off a certain impression. Proper useful for when you see someone acting all high and mighty when you know they’re just a melt.

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Here’s the lowdown on how you stick this thing together. It’s a walk in the park, for real.

Type	Form	English
い-Adjective	偉えらい + ぶる	to act superior
な-Adjective	深刻しんこく + ぶる	to act serious
Noun	先輩せんぱい + ぶる	to act like a senior

So, what’s the deal? It’s bare simple. For い-adjectives, you just chop off the final い and slap ぶる on the end. For な-adjectives and nouns, you just stick ぶる straight on after it. No messing about. This bad boy then conjugates like a regular Godan verb, so you can have ぶった for the past tense, ぶって for the te-form, all that jazz. Easy peasy.

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Think of ～ぶる like wearing a dodgy knock-off designer jacket. From a distance, you might look the part, you might look like you’re dripping in legit gear. But when you get up close, everyone can see it’s a fake. The quality’s shoddy, the logo’s off, it’s just not the real deal. That’s what someone using ～ぶる is doing – they’re putting on a fake front, trying to pass themselves off as something they’re not, but it’s just an act, and it’s usually see-through to anyone who’s not a plonker.

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Right, here’s some proper examples so you can see how it works on the street.

あの新入しんいりは偉えらぶっているが、何なにもできない。
That rookie acts all high and mighty, but he can’t do a damn thing.

下したっ端ぱのくせにボスぶるな。分ぶんをわきまえろ。
Stop acting like the boss when you’re just a foot soldier. Know your place, blud.

彼かれは金持かねもちぶるが、実じつは借金しゃっきんまみれだ。
He acts rich, but in reality, he’s drowning in debt.

親分おやぶんは若わかぶって流行はやりの服ふくを着きている。
The boss is acting young and wearing trendy clothes.

組織そしきを裏切うらぎった後あとも、彼かれは忠誠ちゅうせい心しんがあるぶっていた。
Even after betraying the organisation, he acted like he was loyal.

彼女かのじょの前まえではいつもいい子こぶっているけど、俺おれたちは本当ほんとうの彼かれを知しっている。
He’s always acting like a good boy in front of his girl, but we know the real him.

彼女かのじょは被害ひがい者しゃぶっているが、本当ほんとうは全部ぜんぶ仕組しくんだんだ。
She’s acting like a victim, but she planned the whole thing.

警察けいさつに捕つかまっても、彼かれは最後さいごまで強つよがって、平気へいきぶっていた。
Even after getting nabbed by the Old Bill, he put on a brave face ’til the end, acting like he was unbothered.

あいつはベテランぶっているが、修羅場しゅらばを一いち度ども経験けいけんしたことがない。
He acts like a seasoned veteran, but he’s never even been in a proper scrap.

彼女かのじょは上品じょうひんぶっているが、育そだちは俺おれたちと同おなじ団地だんちだ。
She acts all posh, but she grew up on the same council estate as us.

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Stay dangerous