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【No. 1370】Shiru Hito zo Shiru (知る人ぞ知る)

Sep 18, 2018 19:36
Shiru Hito zo Shiru

Today I will introduce you to the Japanese expression shiru hito zo shiru (知る人ぞ知る).

Since shiru (知る) means "know" and hito (人) means "people" or "person," the literal meaning of this expression is "people who know it know it."

You might think that the literal meaning is natural and obvious.

However, the actual meaning of it is that everyone doesn't know it, but some informed people know it is valuable/important.

Shiru hito zo shiru is usually used as an adjective, for example, shiru hito zo shiru resutoran (知る人ぞ知るレストラン - a restaurant that is known only to a few informed people).
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【No. 1369】Nido Aru Koto wa Sando Aru (二度あることは三度ある - Things Come in Threes)

Sep 17, 2018 16:20
Nido Aru Koto wa Sando Aru

Yesterday, I introduced you to the proverb, sandome no shōjiki (三度目の正直), which means that the third time is the charm.

Actually, there is another proverb, nido aru koto wa sando aru (二度あることは三度ある), which has the opposite meaning of that.

Nido (二度) means "twice," aru (ある) means "to happen," sando (三度) means "three times," so the literal meaning of this proverb is that what has happened twice will happen three times.

In fact, according to Bayes' theorem, the probability that what has happened twice happens again is higher than the probability that something happens only on the third time.
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【No. 1368】Sandome no Shōjiki (三度目の正直 - The Third Time's the Charm)

Sep 16, 2018 22:52
Sandome no Shōjiki

Recently I have been looking for a new job.

Unfortunately, I failed in job interviews several times, but it seems that somehow I would pass the interview last week.

If you want to express that the first and second time would not go well, but the third time would go well like my case, you can use a Japanese proverb, sandome no shōjiki (三度目の正直).

San (三) means "three," dome (度目) means "__ times" or "__th," and shōjiki means "sincerity."

However, I failed in interviews three times, and it went well in the fourth interview, so I should say yondome no shōjiki (四度目の正直 - the fourth time's the charm).
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【No. 1367】Manma to Damasareru (まんまと騙される - Being Totally Deceived)

Sep 15, 2018 08:19
Manma to Damasareru

Yesterday, I was totally deceived. This situation is expressed as manma to damasareta (まんまと騙された) in Japanese.

Damasareru (騙される - meaning "to be deceived") is a passive voice of the verb damasu (騙す - meaning "to deceive").

In addition, manma to (まんまと) is an adverb that means "beautifully" or "successfully."

Previously, I introduced you to the baby word manma (まんま), meaning "meal," but its etymology is different from the one of the adverb 'manma.'

It is thought that the adverb manma comes from uma uma (うまうま), which means "good" or "successful."
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【No. 1366】A Logical Quiz (A is B)

Sep 14, 2018 22:18
A Logical Quiz (A is B)

Today I would like to give you a logic quiz.

[Quiz]
Fill words in A and B in the following two sentences, and make them become theoretically correct sentences.

A is B.
A is not B.


* The example answers are shown below. Please think about it before you see these answers.


[Answer 1]
A: The number of words in this sentence
B: nine

[Answer 2]
A; This sentence
B: positive

[Answer 3]
A: One of my children
B: girl

Answer 1 and 2 refer to the sentences themselves (self-reference). Answer 3 refers to a part of a group.
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【No. 1365】Yarukoto Nasukoto (やることなすこと - Everything One Does)

Sep 13, 2018 09:49
Yarukoto Nasukoto

Yesterday, I used a Japanese expression, yarukoto nasukoto (やることなすこと).

Yaru (やる) means "do," koto (こと) means "thing," and nasu (なす) means "do."

The literal meaning of this expression is "What someone does, what someone does."

The actual meaning of that is "All things that someone does/All of someone's attitude," and it is often used in a negative context.

For example, people say yarukoto nasukoto umaku ikanai (やることなすことうまくいかない - Everything goes wrong).

On the other hand, it is sometimes used in a positive context, such as yarukoto nasukoto kawaii (やることなすことかわいい - Everything she/he does is cute).
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【No. 1364】Obi ni Mijikashi Tasuki ni Nagashi (帯に短し襷に長し - Too Much for One and not Enough for One)

Sep 12, 2018 23:13
Obi ni Mijikashi Tasuki ni Nagashi

There is the Japanese proverb obi ni mijikasji tasuki ni nagashi, which represents things that are lukewarm and useless.

Obi (帯) means "belt" used in a kimono (着物 - traditional Japanese clothes), mijikasi (短し) means "short," tasuki (襷) means "cord" used to tuck up the sleeves of a kimono, and nagashi (長し) means "long."

This proverb refers to a fabric material.

That is to say, it means that the fabric material has a lukewarm length -- it is too short to use as obi, whereas it is too long to use as tasuki.
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【No. 1363】Morning and Night Spiders

Sep 11, 2018 23:23
There is a superstition related to spider in Japan.

It is "If you find spiders in the morning, you should let them go even if they are hateful enemies. If you find spiders at night, you should kill them even if they are families."

In Japan, it is said that spiders in the morning are a kind of lucky items.

In fact, since spiders make a web on only sunny days, seeing a spider in the morning means that the day will be sunny.

On the other hand, this superstition says that you should kill spiders at night, but actually, you shouldn't do that.

This is because spiders are beneficial insects that eat pests such as cockroaches and flies.
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【No. 1362】Kusattemo Tai (腐っても鯛 - A Good Horse Becomes Never a Jade)

Sep 10, 2018 19:19
Truly excellent things or people would not lose their original value, even if they got somewhat worse.

To express such a fact, you can use the Japanese proverb kusattemo tai (腐っても鯛).

Kusaru (腐る) means "to rot," temo (ても) means "but," and tai (鯛) means "red sea bream."

Therefore, the literal meaning of kusattemo tai is "It rotted, but it's a red sea bream."

Since read sea bream has a good look and a good taste, it is treated as a lucky item in Japan.

Kusattemo tai is a kind of compliments, but using the verb kusaru (腐る - to rot) to someone is rude, so please be careful when you use it.
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【No. 1361】Toranu Tanuki no Kawazanyo (捕らぬ狸の皮算用 - Don't Count Your Chickens before They are Hatched)

Sep 9, 2018 16:58
Toranu Tanuki no Kawazanyo

I often do an act called "toranu tanuki no kawazanyo" (捕らぬ狸の皮算用).

Toranu (捕らぬ) means "not capture," tanuki (狸) means "raccoon dog," kawa (皮) means "skin," and zanyo/sanyo (算用) means "to calculate an amount of money or something."

That is to say, the literal meaning of this phrase is that you calculate an amount of selling raccoon leather before you capture the raccoon dog.

In actuality, this phrase has the wider meaning that before you get something, you plan in line with it.
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【No. 1360】Unomi (うのみ - Trusting the Obvious)

Sep 8, 2018 20:12
Unomi

I sometimes perform an action called unomi (うのみ).

U (う/鵜) means "cormorant," and nomi (のみ/呑み) means "to swallow" or "to drink."

The combination, unomi, means to swallow something or to believe someone's story/things without ascertaining the truth or without thinking.

It is thought that this term comes from the fact that cormorants swallow whole fish without chewing it.

Unomi is often used like unomi ni suru (うのみにする) with the verb suru (する), which means "to do something."
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【No. 1359】How to Wear Trousers

Sep 7, 2018 12:43
How to Wear Trousers

I heard that most Westerners pass both their legs through trousers at the same time while sitting on a bed or something.

On the other hand, most Japanese people wear trousers from their left leg while standing on one foot.

It is said that this custom comes from the fashion of samurai.

Samurai wore hakama (袴 - culottes-like Japanese garment), but it was difficult to wear hakama due to the long hems.

Because of this, samurai came to wear hakama while standing on one foot so that they can face enemies rapidly even when they are changing the garment.
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【No. 1358】Tatami (畳 - Tatami Mat)

Sep 6, 2018 19:25
Tatami

I like a smell of tatami (畳).

Tatami is a traditional Japanese flooring material in Japanese-style rooms; it is made by weaving soft rush into a settled straw.

In the past, tatami was used as a generic term for rugs or mats including thin ones.

Since rugs and mats were folded when we don't use them, the noun tatami was created by nominalizing the verb tatamu (たたむ - meaning "to fold").

Unfortunately, it is said that the tatami industry is suffering from a shortage of successors.

Incidentally, when you read the kanji 畳 as jō in the Chinese reading, it represents the unit for the area of a space.
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【No. 1357】Isogaba Maware (急がば回れ - More Haste, Less Speed)

Sep 5, 2018 14:08
Isogaba Maware

Yesterday, a Lang-8 user taught me the English phrase "Haste makes waste."

This reminded me of the similar Japanese proverb, isogaba maware (急がば回れ).

Isogu (急ぐ) means "to hurry" or "haste," maware (回れ) means "to go around."

Even if you are in a hurry, it may be dangerous or make you get lost to use an unfamiliar shortcut.

In many cases, choosing a safe and reliable way would eventually lead to better results though it might seem like a detour.

The proverb isogaba maware expresses such a fact.
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【No. 1356】Yudan Taiteki (油断大敵 - Don't Be Careless)

Sep 4, 2018 23:24
Yudan Taiteki

Previously, I introduced you to the word yudan (油断), which means to let one's guard down or to be careless.

This word is often used in the famous four-character idiom, yudan taiteki (油断大敵).

Tai/dai (大) means "big" or "great," and teki (敵) means "enemy."

That is to say, yudan taiteki means that yudan (carelessness) is a big enemy because if you are in a state called yudan (if you are careless), you can cause a catastrophe.

This idiom can be translated into English as "Security/carelessness is the greatest enemy" or "Don't be careless."
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【No. 1355】Fusessei (不摂生 - Intemperance)

Sep 3, 2018 17:08
Fusessei

These days I have lived a lifestyle called fusessei (不摂生).

Fu (不) is a negative word, and sessei (摂生) means to be careful of your health so as not to fall sick.

Therefore, fusessei means that you are not careful of your health or you do something harmful to your health.

If you fall sick as a result of fusessei, it can be expressed as fusessei ga tataru (不摂生がたたる) by using the verb tataru (たたる).

Originally, tataru means that the gods, Buddha, or ghosts bring harm, but it can also mean that something occurs a bad result.
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【No. 1354】Akuji Senri wo Hashiru (悪事千里を走る - Bad News has Wings)

Sep 2, 2018 17:17
Akuji Senri wo Hashiru

If you do bad things, the rumor will spread rapidly.

To express such a fact, you can use the proverb "akuji senri wo hashiru" (悪事千里を走る)

Aku (悪) means "bad" or "evil," ji (事) means "thing," sen (千) means "thousand," ri (里) means a unit of length that represents about 4 kilometers, and hashiru (走る) means "to run."

That is to say, this proverb implies that if someone does bad things, the fact or rumor will run over/spread around 4000 kilometers.
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【No. 1352】Nakittsura ni Hachi (泣きっ面に蜂 - Adding Insult to Injury)

Aug 31, 2018 20:58
Nakittsura ni Hachi

Yesterday, I introduced you to the expression fundari kettari (踏んだり蹴ったり), which means that one bad thing after another happens.

There is another Japanese proverb that has the similar meaning to it -- it is nakittsura ni hachi (泣きっ面に蜂).

Naki (泣き) means "crying," tsura (面) means "face," and hachi (蜂) means "bee."

That is to say, nakkittsura ni hachi means that even though someone is crying already because of an unfortunate thing, a bee stings him/her.
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【No. 1351】Fundari Kettari (踏んだり蹴ったり - A Streak of Bad Luck)

Aug 30, 2018 17:45
Fundari Kettari

Today was a day described as fundari kettari (踏んだり蹴ったり) to me.

Fundari kettari is an expression meaning that bad things happen to someone in a row.

Fumu (踏む) means "to tread on something" and keru (蹴る) means "to kick something."

I think that most Japanese people believe that this expression implies a misfortune of being trodden and kicked.

However, both fundari and kettari are the active voice.

The actual etymology is that treading on and kicking an undesirable thing (such as feces) is the calamity.
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【No. 1350】Omaru (おまる - Jerry/Potty)

Aug 29, 2018 19:58
Omaru

In Japan, we call portable indoor toilets omaru (おまる).

O (お) is a polite prefix, and maru (まる) is an archaic term that means to discharge one's urine or evacuate one's bowels.

Omaru is written as 御虎子 in kanji, and its literal meaning is "a tiger's child."

In the past, omaru was made of wood, and it had a box shape, but koban (小判 - an oval gold coin) shapes have become common since the Edo period.

Since koban was sometimes called tora no ko (虎の子 - literally "a tiger's child"), the kanji of omaru became 御虎子.