Tanto Chokunyu
Today I will talk about the four-Chinese character idiom “tanto chokunyu.”
単刀直入
“Tanto chokunyu” means to get straight to the main point with no preamble.
今日は「単刀直入」という四字熟語を紹介します。
For example: “Tanto chokunyu ni iuto, kimi wa kubi da.” (I’ll get straight to the point. You’re fired.)
「単刀直入」は、前置きなどを省略していきなり本題に入ることや、核心をつくことを表します。
This idiom comes from the Chinese history book called “The Records of the Transmission of the Lamp.”
例「単刀直入に言うと、君はクビだ」
“Tanto” means “a single sword,” “chokunyu” means “to enter straight into somewhere,” and “tanto chokunyu” originally meant that someone rushes into an enemy position by oneself with a single sword.
この言葉は、中国・北宋代の燈史「景徳傳燈録」に由来します。
Deriving from it, this idiom has come to mean to the above meaning.
もともとは、一人で刀を一振り持ち、敵陣に斬り込むことを意味していました。
