【No. 0】
Hara wo Kukuru (腹をくくる – Bracing Oneself)

Hara wo Kukuru

Following yesterday and the day before yesterday, I would like to talk about an idiom that is related to “stomach.”

Today’s idiom is ‘hara wo kukuru‘ (腹をくくる).

‘Hara‘ (腹) means “stomach” and ‘kukuru‘ (くくる) means “to tie up something” or “to bind up something,” so the literal meaning of ‘hara wo kukuru’ is “to tie up one’s stomach.”

However, same on the previous occasion, ‘hara’ (腹 – “stomach”) means “feelings,” “mind,” or “heart.”

Therefore, the actual meaning of this idiom is “to brace oneself.”

To describe it, you can also say “to roll up one’s sleeves” in English.