Yoku Ieba, Waruku Ieba, (良く言えば～、悪く言えば～)
Yoku Ieba, Waruku Ieba,
良く言えば～、悪く言えば～
I introduced you to the Japanese term ‘ishiatama‘ (石頭 – hard head/inflexible) yesterday, and ‘majime‘ (真面目 – serious/earnest) several days ago.
昨日は「石頭」という言葉を、数日前は「真面目」という言葉を紹介しました。
Both of these terms have a similar meaning, but ‘majime’ includes a positive connotation, whereas ‘ishiatama’ includes a negative connotation.
これらは似た意味を持ちますが、「真面目」は良いニュアンスを含む一方で、「石頭」は悪いニュアンスを含みます。
If you want to express a person who can be described by both of them, you can say as follows:
誰かの性格を表す際に、これらのどちらも言葉を当てはまる場合は、次のように言うことができます。
“Yoku ieba majime, waruku ieba ishiatama” (良く言えば真面目、悪く言えば石頭).
「良く言えば真面目、悪く言えば石頭。」
‘Yoku‘ (良く) means “good/positive,” ‘waruku‘ (悪く) means “bad/negative,” and ‘ieba‘ (言えば) means “saying/speaking.”
「良く」は “good/positive,” 「悪く」は “bad/negative,” 「言えば」は “saying/speaking” を意味します。
Therefore, the above expression means that he/she is ‘majime’ (earnest) in a good way of saying, but ‘ishiatama’ (inflexible) in a bad way of saying.
すなわちこの表現は、”He/she is ‘majime’ (earnest) in a good way of saying, but ‘ishiatama’ (inflexible) in a bad way of saying.” という意味になります。
