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【No. 1502】Asu wa Wagami (明日は我が身 - Tomorrow It Might Be Me)

Jan 28, 2019 18:05
Asu wa Wagami

Have you ever seen someone's misfortune in front of you?

You might think that it is just an event of other people and does not concern you, but a similar misfortune could befall you in the near future.

Asu wa wagami (明日は我が身) is a Japanese phrase that admonishes people for such a possibility.

Asu (明日) means "tomorrow," waga (我が) means "my," and mi (身) means "body."

That is to say, asu wa wagami literally says that it might happen to my body tomorrow.
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【No. 1501】Kinou no Kyou (昨日の今日 - A Short Period)

Jan 27, 2019 13:28
Kinou no Kyou

Today, I would like to talk about a little weird Japanese expression, kinou no kyou (昨日の今日).

Since kinou (昨日) means "yesterday" and kyou (今日) means "today," the literal meaning of kinou no kyou is "yesterday and today" or "yesterday's today."

Can you imagine what does it actually mean?

Actually, it says that it has only been a day since something happened yesterday.

That is to say, this expression means a short period or duration.

[Example sentence]

Kinou no kyou de kare wa iken ga kawatta (昨日の今日で彼は意見が変わった - He changed his opinion in a short period.)
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【No. 1500】Keizoku wa Chikara Nari (継続は力なり - Practice Makers Perfect)

Jan 26, 2019 14:52
Keizoku wa Chikara Nari

This is my 1500th post.

Today I would like to introduce the phrase keizoku wa chikara nari (継続は力なり), which is the motto of many people.

Keizoku (継続) means "continuity," chikara (力) means "power," and nari (なり) means "to be," so the literal meaning of this phrase is "continuity is power."

As the literal meaning says, this phrase represents the importance of continuing for anything.

It can be translated in English as "persistence pays off," "practice makes perfect," or "endurance makes you stronger."
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【No. 1499】Mimi ga Itai (耳が痛い - Being Ashamed to Hear)

Jan 25, 2019 18:06
Mimi ga Itai

When someone's remarks or criticisms hit your sensitive or weak point, and it is harsh for you to hear that, you can use the Japanese idiom mimi ga itai (耳が痛い) to describe the situation.

Mimi (耳) means "ear" and itai (痛い) means "to hurt" or "to feel painful," so the literal meaning of mimi ga itai is "to feel pain on one's ear."

This idiom implies that you feel pain on your ear when you hear what you don't want to hear.

Of course, you can also use this expression when your ear physically hurts.
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【No. 1498】Hana no Shita wo Nobasu (鼻の下を伸ばす - Spoony)

Jan 24, 2019 21:01
Hana no Shita wo Nobasu

When you womanize or have a loose face due to an attractive woman, it can be described as an idiom, hana no shita wo nobasu (鼻の下を伸ばす).

Hana (鼻) means "nose," shita (下) means "under," and nobasu (伸ばす) means "to stretch/extend," so the literal meaning of this idiom is "to stretch/extend the area under one's nose."

In fact, when a man is attracted by a woman, his face would be loosened, and the area under his nose would seem to be stretched.

Because of this, hana no shita wo nobasu came to have its current meaning.
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【No. 1497】Hana wo Oru (鼻を折る - Cropping Someone's Feathers)

Jan 23, 2019 17:52
Hana wo Oru

Continuing from yesterday's post, I would like to talk about an idiom related to nose, hana wo oru (鼻を折る).

Hana (鼻) means "nose" and oru (折る) means "to break," so the literal meaning of hana wo oru is "to break one's nose."

Of course, you can use this phrase to mean to break someone's nose physically.

However, it is often used to mean to subdue someone's pride.

People who take pride in something is described as hana ga takai (鼻が高い - literally "one's nose is high").

That is to say, hana wo oru implies that you break someone's high nose.
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【No. 1496】Hana ga Magaru (鼻が曲がる - Bad Smelling)

Jan 22, 2019 17:38
Hana ga Magaru (鼻が曲がる)

These days, I have written about Japanese idioms that use "nose."

Today, I would like to talk about hana ga magaru (鼻が曲がる).

Since hana (鼻) means "nose" and magaru (曲がる) means "to be bent," the literal meaning of this idiom is "one's nose is bent."

Actually, hana ga magaru can express that there is a terrible odor.

This comes from the fact when someone notices a bad odor, his/her nose would get distorted.

[Example sentence]
Kono yasai wa hana ga magaru youna nioi da (この野菜は鼻が曲がるような臭いだ - This vegetable has an awful smell).
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【No. 1495】Hana ni Tsuku (鼻につく - Getting Annoyed)

Jan 21, 2019 18:47
Hana ni Tsuku

When feeling annoyed with someone's words or behavior, you can express it by using the Japanese idiom hana ni tsuku (鼻につく).

Since hana (鼻) means "nose" and tsuku (つく) means "to be attached," the literal meaning of hana ni tsuku is "something is attached to one's nose."

Here, what is attached to one's nose implies "smell."

If a peculiar smell is attached to your nose, you will be annoyed because the smell will stay for a while.

Because of this, hana ni tsuku came to have the above meaning.
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【No. 1494】Hana de Warau (鼻で笑う - Snorting with Laughter)

Jan 20, 2019 21:08
Hana de Warau

It is not a good deed, but have you ever sneer or mock at someone?

You can express it by using the Japanese idiom hana de warau (鼻で笑う).

Hana (鼻) means "nose" and warau (笑う) means "to laugh," so the literal meaning of hana de warau is "to laugh using one's nose."

When people sneer/mock at someone or express a scornful feeling, they give a snort.

The idiom hana de warau was derived from this fact.

It can be translated into English as "to snort with laughter" or "to laugh through one's nose."
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【No. 1493】Hiza ga Warau (膝が笑う - One's Knees Shake)

Jan 19, 2019 21:06
Hiza ga Warau

When exercising suddenly or imposing a load on your feet, your knees could wobble/shake regardless of your own will.

To describe such a situation, you can use the Japanese idiom hiza ga warau (膝が笑う).

Hiza (膝) means "knee" and warau (笑う) means "to laugh," so the literal meaning of hiza ga warau is "one's knees laugh."

As you might have guessed, this idiom describes the shake of knees by using the verb "laugh."

Incidentally, there are mainly three kinds of onomatopoeia to describe the shake of knees -- kaku kaku (カクカク), gaku gaku (ガクガク), and puru puru (プルプル).
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【No. 1492】Ana ga Attara Hairitai (穴があったら入りたい - I Want to Crawl under a Rock)

Jan 18, 2019 18:28
Ana ga Attara Hairitai

Today, I would like to introduce you to an idiom that expresses one's feeling, so please guess what it means.

The idiom is ana ga attara hairitai (穴があったら入りたい).

Since ana (穴) means "hole," attara (あったら) means "if something is there," hairitai (入りたい) means "I want to get into somewhere," the literal meaning of this idiom is "if there is a hole, I want to get in there."

The actual meaning is that you are so embarrassing that you want to hide yourself by getting into a hole.
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【No. 1491】Hokusoemu (ほくそ笑む - Smiling Inwardly)

Jan 17, 2019 23:41
Hokusoemu

Have you ever smiled inwardly as a result of something going well as expected?

Such an act is called hokusoemu (ほくそ笑む) in Japanese.

Emu (笑む) means "to smile."

Hokuso (ほくそ) comes from the Chinese 北叟 (hokusō - meaning "an old man live in the North"), which especially refers to an old man 塞翁 (Saiou) in ancient Chinese stories.

Since Saiou (hokusō) always smiled inwardly even if good or bad things happened, the term hokusoemu came to have its current meaning.

Incidentally, hokusoemu is the only Japanese term that uses hokuso.
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【No. 1490】Shinsan wo Nameru (辛酸を嘗める - Having a Hard Time)

Jan 16, 2019 19:27
Shinsan wo Nameru

Yesterday, I introduced the idiom amai shiru wo suu (甘い汁を吸う), which means to get profits without struggling.

Since amai (甘い) means "sweet," shiru (汁) means "juice," and suu (吸う) means "to suck," the literal meaning of this idiom is "to such sweet juice."

There is another idiom that used a similar wording of this -- it is shinsan wo nameru (辛酸を嘗める).

Since shin (辛) means "hot/spicy," san (酸) means "sour," and nameru (嘗める) means "to lick," the literal meaning of this idiom is "to lick something hot or sour."

It is painful for many people to lick hot or sour things, so this idiom means to have a hard time.
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【No. 1489】Amai Shiru wo Suu (甘い汁を吸う - Lining One's Pockets)

Jan 15, 2019 20:06
Amai Shiru wo Suu

There are people who take an action which is expressed as amai shiru wo suu (甘い汁を吸う) in Japanese.

Amai (甘い) means "sweet," shiru (汁) means "juice" or "soup," and suu (吸う) means "to suck," so the literal meaning of this idiom is "to suck sweet juice."

Here, "sweet juice" implies profits.

That is to say, amai shiru wo suu means to get profits without struggling.

You can also say umai shiru wo suu (うまい汁を吸う), by using umai (うまい - literally "delicious") instead of amai.
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【No. 1488】Gishin Anki (疑心暗鬼 - Doubts Beget Doubts)

Jan 14, 2019 18:18
Gishin Anki

Today, I saw a person who has a mind called gishin anki (疑心暗鬼).

This four-character idiom mean to be afraid of trivial things or suspect everything.

Gi (疑) means "suspicion," shin (心) means "heart" or "mind," an (暗) means "dark," and ki (鬼) means "ogre."

In other words, gishin anki implies a mind of suspecting that there is an ogre because of the darkness.

Originally, this idiom was used as a Buddhist term to mean to have a suspecional mind to the truth of Buddhism.
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【No. 1487】Hara wo Kukuru (腹をくくる - Bracing Oneself)

Jan 13, 2019 23:53
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.
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【No. 1486】Hara wo Yomu/Hara wo Saguru (腹を読む/腹を探る - Reading One's Mind/Sounding out One's Mind)

Jan 12, 2019 21:52
Hara wo Yomu/Hara wo Saguru

In Japan, long ago it was thought that the stomach contains one's feelings or mind, and there are many idioms using hara (腹 - meaning "stomach").

Today I would like to introduce you to two idioms among them, hara wo yomu (腹を読む) and hara wo saguru (腹を探る).

Yomu (読む) means "to read," and saguru (探る) means "to search."

The literal meaning of hara wo yomu is "to read one's stomach," and its actual meaning is "to read one's mind."

The literal meaning of hara wo saguru is "to search one's stomach," and its actual meaning is "to sound out one's mind."
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【No. 1485】Futoppara (太っ腹 - Generous)

Jan 11, 2019 23:22
Futoppara

Yesterday, I introduced you to the Japanese idiom hara ga futoi (腹が太い), which means that one's heart/capacity is large.

There is another Japanese term, futoppara (太っ腹), which is very similar to hara ga gutoi.

Futo (太) means "large," "thick," or "wide," and hara/para (腹) means "stomach" or "belly."

As you can guess, both futoppara and hara ga futoi are composed of the same two words, 腹 and 太.

These meanings are almost the same, but futoppara is often used to mean that someone is generous
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【No. 1484】Hara ga Futoi (腹が太い - One's Heart is Large)

Jan 10, 2019 23:04
Hara ga Futoi

There is an idiom, hara ga futoi (腹が太い) in Japanese.

Hara (腹) usually means "stomach" or "belly," but here it implies "heart" or "capacity."

In addition, futoi (太い) means "large," "thick," or "wide."

That is to say, hara ga futoi is a compliment that means "one's heart/capacity is large."

However, it could literally mean that one's belly is big, so please be careful when you use this idiom.

Incidentally, in several areas of western Japan, hara ga futoi is used to mean to have a full stomach.
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【No. 1483】Tsukeyakiba (付け焼き刃 - Borrowed Wisdom)

Jan 9, 2019 17:02
Tsukeyakiba

Have you ever been hastily acquired knowledge or skill as a stopgap measure?

Such a not-so-great measure is called tsukeyakiba (付け焼き刃) in Japanese.

Tsuke (付け) means "attached," yaki (焼き) means "burnt," and ba/ha (刃) means "blade."

In the past, swordsmiths sometimes attached a burnt steel blade to a blunt sword as a stopgap measure.

Swords made by striking metal materials repeatedly were sharp and long-lasting, whereas swords with tsukeyakiba were not durable.

Because of this, inefficient hastily knowledge or skill has come to be referred to as tsukeyakiba (付け焼き刃).