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Formation: N + など／なんか／なんて; N + なんか can replace が・を・は (私なんか, 野菜なんか食べない); V/adj plain form + など／なんて (〜なんて信じられない); quotation + などと言う／なんて言う
Besides giving an example from a list (such as), this pattern marks something as trivial, worthless or not worth taking seriously. Used about oneself (私など, 私なんか) it shows modesty or self-deprecation, and after a whole clause なんて shows surprise, disbelief or contempt: 彼が来るなんて (to think he would come!). など is neutral and fine in writing. なんか and なんて are casual and spoken, and なんか often takes the place of the particles が, を and は. Compare 〜ごとき, which is literary and much stronger in contempt (私ごときに, the likes of me), and 〜とは, which expresses surprise like clause + なんて but sounds more written.
Variants: などと、なんかに／なんかより、なんていう
Examples
- 私などにはとても務まらない大役です。
It's a major role that someone like me could never fill. - 宿題なんか、もうやりたくない。
I don't want to do stupid stuff like homework anymore. - 彼が試験に落ちるなんて、信じられない。
I can't believe he failed the exam!
In real texts 2 occurrence(s)
じぶんへの戒めとして、書いておく（笑） · 2026年11月7日
ただ、それだとなんにもできないし、じぶんが他の人のやることに対して、なにかと脅かしたり戒めたりする人間になりたくなかったので、「世の中甘いか酸っぱいか、舐めて見なくちゃわからない」などと軽口を叩いて見せたりもしながら生きてきた。
However, that way you can't get anything done, and I didn't want to become the kind of person who is always scaring or admonishing others over what they do, so I have gone through life also making a show of joking lightly, saying things like "Whether the world is sweet or sour, you can't tell until you've had a lick."
Here など follows a quotation and combines with the quoting と: "saying things like '…'." It presents the line as one sample of his jokes and plays it down as nothing weighty, which fits 軽口. A bare と would present it as an exact statement and make it sound more serious. Note that the 〜などひとつもない in p1s1 is a different use, where など adds emphasis to a negative statement.
あまい、からい、すい 柴崎友香 · 2026年11月4日
「世知辛い」は、唐辛子のひりひり感でもおかしくはないが、やはり塩のじわじわ利いてくる感じがするし、近頃はつれない態度を「塩対応」などと言うから、思い通りに行かない厳しい状況などを表すとき、塩気の言葉が使われるようだ。
世知辛い (hard, unforgiving, of the world) could just as well be the stinging feel of chili pepper, but I still feel it is more like salt slowly taking effect. And these days a cold, curt manner is called 塩対応 ("salt treatment") and so on, so it seems that salt words are used to describe things like harsh situations where things don't go the way you want.
Here などと言う follows a quoted word and means "people say things like 塩対応". It presents the slang as one example of a trend, and it also distances the writer slightly from the trendy expression. It is not dismissive in this sentence, just illustrative and soft. Compare plain と言う, which would present 塩対応 as the one fixed term.