【No. 0742】E ni Kaita Mochi (A Rice Cake Drawn in a Picture)
Dec 29, 2016 11:58
Yesterday I wrote about "mochitsuki" (rice cake pounding).
Today I will talk about the proverb "e ni kaita mochi", which includes the word "mochi".
The literal meaning of "e ni kaita mochi" is "a rice cake drawn in a picture", and it means that something is totally useless or there is no possibility to realize something, even if it looks/sounds good.
This proverb comes from the fact that even if you can draw mochi (rice cake) in a picture very well, you can't eat it, and it is not useful.
The etymology is the Chinese word "gabei", ("ga" means "picture" and "bei" means "mochi") which can be found in Sangokushi.
Today I will talk about the proverb "e ni kaita mochi", which includes the word "mochi".
The literal meaning of "e ni kaita mochi" is "a rice cake drawn in a picture", and it means that something is totally useless or there is no possibility to realize something, even if it looks/sounds good.
This proverb comes from the fact that even if you can draw mochi (rice cake) in a picture very well, you can't eat it, and it is not useful.
The etymology is the Chinese word "gabei", ("ga" means "picture" and "bei" means "mochi") which can be found in Sangokushi.