【No. 0431】A Tanuki's (Raccoon Dog's) Sleep

Feb 22, 2016 10:00

Today, I will write about a Japanese proverb "a tanuki's sleep (tanuki neiri)."

"A tanuki's sleep" is to pretend to be asleep when you feel bad.

The tanuki (raccoon dog) is a very timid animal, and pretends to be asleep (or loses consciousness) when it senses danger.

Since the figure looks like a pretended sleep that deceives humans, we made the proverb "a tanuki's sleep."

For the same reason, there is an expression "play possum" that means "a pretended sleep" in English.

Also, there is another expression "a fox's sleep."

The reason is because foxes are sly and it's thought that they deceive humans.

By the way, I heard that there are little expressions like them except English and Japanese.

狸寝入り

今日は日本のことわざ、「狸寝入り」を紹介します。

狸寝入りとは、都合の悪いときなどに、眠ったふりをすることです。

狸はとても臆病な動物で、危険を感じたり驚いたりすると、死んだふりをします（あるいは気を失います）。

その姿が人間を騙すための「嘘寝」に見えることから、「狸寝入り」という言葉ができました。

同様の理由で、英語では「play possum (フクロネズミを演じる)」という表現があります。

また、英語では「a fox's sleep (狐の眠り)」とも言います。

これは、狐はとても賢く、人を騙すと考えられているためです。

ちなみに、このような表現は英語と日本語以外には無いそうです。

Corrections (4)

No. 1　Gumdropghost

• A Tanuki's (Raccoon Dog's) Sleep
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• Today, I will write about a Japanese proverb "a tanuki's sleep (tanuki neiri)."
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• "A tanuki's sleep" is to pretend to be asleep when you feel bad.
• A "tanuki's sleep" is means to pretend to be asleep when you feel bad.

• The tanuki (raccoon dog) is a very timid animal, and pretends to be asleep (or loses consciousness) when it senses danger.
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• Since the figure looks like a pretended sleep that deceives humans, we made the proverb "a tanuki's sleep."
• Since the figure animal looks like a it is pretending to sleep that to deceives humans, we made the proverb "a tanuki's sleep."

• For the same reason, there is an expression "play possum" that means "a pretended sleep" in English.
• For the same reason, there is an expression "play possum" that means "a to pretended to sleep" in English.

• Also, there is another expression "a fox's sleep."
• Also, in Japanese there is another similar expression "a fox's sleep."

• By the way, I heard that there are little expressions like them except English and Japanese.
• By the way, I heard that there are little expressions like them except in English and Japanese.

I love hearing about tanuki :)

Toru
Thank you very much for correcting my post! :)
I think that many Japanese are fond of tanuki (^^)

No. 2　Razz_Stella

• A Tanuki's (Raccoon Dog's) Sleep
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• Today, I will write about a Japanese proverb "a tanuki's sleep (tanuki neiri)."
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• "A tanuki's sleep" is to pretend to be asleep when you feel bad.
• "A tanuki's sleep" is to pretend to be asleep whenever you feel bad.

• The tanuki (raccoon dog) is a very timid animal, and pretends to be asleep (or loses consciousness) when it senses danger.
• The tanuki (raccoon dog) is a very timid animal, and pretends to be asleep (or loses consciousness) whenever it senses danger.

• Since the figure looks like a pretended sleep that deceives humans, we made the proverb "a tanuki's sleep."
• Since the figure creature looks like a pretended it's sleep, that it deceives humans. That is why we made the proverb "a tanuki's sleep."

• For the same reason, there is an expression "play possum" that means "a pretended sleep" in English.
• For the same reason, there is an English expression, "play possum," that which means "a to pretended to be asleep or to play dead." in English.

• Also, there is another expression "a fox's sleep."
• Also, there is another expression, "a fox's sleep."

• The reason is because foxes are sly and it's thought that they deceive humans.
• The reason is because foxes are sly creatures, and it's thought that they deceive humans.

• By the way, I heard that there are little expressions like them except English and Japanese.
• By the way, I heard that there are little few expressions like these except in English and Japanese.

Toru
Thank you so much for correcting my post! (^^)

Razz_Stella
You're welcome ^^

No. 3　Seralt

• A Tanuki's (Raccoon Dog's) Sleep
• A Tanuki's (Raccoon Dog's) Slumber

  もっと文語っぽくなれる。

• Today, I will write about a Japanese proverb "a tanuki's sleep (tanuki neiri)."
• Today, I will write about the Japanese proverb "a tanuki's sleep (tanuki neiri)."

  「狸寝入り」という言い回しは一つしかないので定冠詞「the」を使う。

• "A tanuki's sleep" is to pretend to be asleep when you feel bad.
• "A tanuki's sleep" means to pretend to be asleep when you feel bad.

• The tanuki (raccoon dog) is a very timid animal, and pretends to be asleep (or loses consciousness) when it senses danger.
• The tanuki (raccoon dog) is a very timid animal, and pretends to sleep (or faint) when it senses danger.

  "to sleep or [to] faint" ←　構造的に対立なので、もっときれいな文章になります。

• Since the figure looks like a pretended sleep that deceives humans, we made the proverb "a tanuki's sleep."
• Since the animal pretends to sleep to deceive humans, we have the proverb "a tanuki's sleep."

• For the same reason, there is an expression "play possum" that means "a pretended sleep" in English.
• For the same reason, there is the English expression "play possum" that means "pretend to sleep".

  "play possum" は動詞句なので、定義も同じ品詞句になったほうがいい。

• Also, there is another expression "a fox's sleep."
• There is also another Japanese expression: "a fox's sleep."

• The reason is because foxes are sly and it's thought that they deceive humans.
• The reason is because foxes are considered sly and it's thought that they deceive humans.

• By the way, I heard that there are little expressions like them except English and Japanese.
• By the way, I heard that there are few expressions like these except in English and Japanese.

  little expressions = 小さい言い回し
  few expressions = 少ない言い回し

"Play possum" actually has two meanings -- "pretend to be asleep" and "pretend to be dead". We also have a more direct expression "play dead". It used to be a common command for dog owners. (sit, stay, speak, roll over, play dead, etc).

I think if you expand the parameters of your idioms to include those that involve pretending to be dead, I'm sure you'll find a fair number of languages.

Toru
Thank you very much for the corrections and the kind explanations :)
I didn't know there were many ways to say it. I learned a lot, thank you!

No. 4　closed

• A Tanuki's (Raccoon Dog's) Sleep
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• Today, I will write about a Japanese proverb "a tanuki's sleep (tanuki neiri)."
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• "A tanuki's sleep" is to pretend to be asleep when you feel bad.
• "A tanuki's sleep" means to pretend to be asleep when you feel like you're in a bad situation.

  都合の悪い -- inconvenience; bad situation
  "you feel bad" -- to feel guilty about something
  
  Based on what this proverb means, it sounds like you mean to say that a person pretends to be asleep when they feel like they're in a bad situation.

• The tanuki (raccoon dog) is a very timid animal, and pretends to be asleep (or loses consciousness) when it senses danger.
• The tanuki (raccoon dog) is a very timid animal, and it pretends to be asleep (or loses consciousness) when it senses danger or is shocked/surprised.

  You're sentence is perfect, but I'm adding content that was in your Japanese sentence.

• Since the figure looks like a pretended sleep that deceives humans, we made the proverb "a tanuki's sleep."
• Since the tanuki looks like it is pretending to sleep （その姿）so that it can deceive humans, we made the proverb, "a tanuki's sleep."

• For the same reason, there is an expression "play possum" that means "a pretended sleep" in English.
• For the same reason, in English, there is an expression, "play possum", that means "a pretended sleep".

  I've changed the word order so that it sounds natural. Although, where "in English" was originally placed in the sentence was okay, it's just a bit confusing for native speakers.

• Also, there is another expression "a fox's sleep."
• Also, there is another expression, in English, "a fox's sleep."

  I've included what you said in Japanese here. In this case, when introducing a new proverb, it's important to specify which language it came from.

• The reason is because foxes are sly and it's thought that they deceive humans.
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• By the way, I heard that there are little expressions like them except English and Japanese.
• By the way, I heard that, aside from English and Japanese （英語と日本語以外）, expression like this （このような表現）(cannot be found in other languages/do not exist) （ないです）.

  You can say either "cannot be found in other languages" or "do not exist", but I've put the more natural choice in bold font.

I wasn't aware of this proverb; thanks for this entry. I think it's really interesting that this expression only appears in English and Japanese.

There's another proverb that is like that, and it can even be directly translated in both languages.

一石二鳥 -- "To kill two birds with one stone"

Toru
Thank you very much for the corrections and the kind explanations!
And thank you for letting me know the interesting example :)
I didn't know that the origin of the proverb "一石二鳥" is English until today.

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