Quote:
Originally Posted by princessmarisa
What is the difference between the two (if any) when it comes to まじ（で）and まさか？
I hear these both in the context I think they mean 'no way? seriously?!?' but more shocked and informal than say 本当に.
Thanks  |
「まさか！」 when said in an exclamation always means "No way!", "You can't be serious!", etc. You are not really asking the other guy if what he said is true.
「マジで」 means two different things depending on how it is pronounced.
Rising intonation: "Really?", "Are you serious?", "Is that true?", etc.
Flat intonation: "It's true", "I am serious.", "It's really like that.", etc.
The phrase 「マジで」 is only about 25-30 years old. When I was a kid, people said 「本当に」. As you stated, 「マジで」 is used only in casual speech.