Kiite Gokuraku Mite Jigoku (聞いて極楽見て地獄 – What Is a Paradise on Hearsay May Be a Hell at Sight)
Kiite Gokuraku Mite Jigoku
聞いて極楽見て地獄
Have you ever had an experience where what you heard and what you saw were completely different?
聞いた内容と見た内容で、全く異なる印象を受けたことはありませんか？
When what you actually saw was terrible, it can be described as kiite gokuraku mite jigoku (聞いて極楽見て地獄).
実際に見てみたらひどいものであった場合、「聞いて極楽見て地獄」と表現することができます。
Since kiite (聞いて) means “to hear,” gokuraku (極楽) means “paradise/heaven,” mite (見て) means “to see,” and jigoku (地獄) means “hell,” the literal meaning of kiite gokuraku mite jigoku is “it is paradise when you hear it, hell when you see it.”
「聞いて」は “to hear”、「極楽」は “paradise/heaven”、「見て」は “to see”、「地獄」は “hell” を意味するので、「聞いて極楽見て地獄」の文字どおりの意味は “it is paradise when you hear it, hell when you see it” となります。
This phrase implies that the difference between hearing and seeing is as great as the difference between heaven and hell.
聞いた話と実際に見るのとでは、極楽と地獄ほどの差があるということです。
