minor business; errand; chore
A self-deprecating or casual way to refer to a personal errand or trivial task, often used when excusing oneself. The word 野暮 (boorish, unrefined) adds a nuance of something mundane or unglamorous.
I'm heading out for a quick errand.
週末は野暮用がたまっていて、どこにも行けなかった。
I had a bunch of chores piled up over the weekend and couldn't go anywhere.
Standard kanji spelling.
Katakana spelling of the first part, sometimes used for casual or emphatic effect.
Compound of 野暮 (yabo, 'boorish, unrefined') and 用 (yō, 'business, errand'). The exact origin is uncertain, but it likely arose as a casual, self-mocking expression for mundane personal tasks.