Skip to content

【No. 0642】Horafuki

Sep 20, 2016 20:12
Today, I'd like to talk about the Japanese word "horafuki".

The literal meaning is "a person who blows Hora", and it expresses "a person who exaggerates things" or "a liar".

"Hora" in "horafuki" comes from "horagai" (conch), and you can use it as a wind instrument by boring a hole.

Horagai as a wind instrument is used for avoiding beasts, or giving a cue of march.

This is because horagai can emit a very loud sound than its looks.

From this fact, "hora" came to mean "an unexpected bonanza", and "an exaggerated lie".

By the way, "an exaggerated fiction" is referred to as "horabanashi"(a hora story).
ほら吹き

今日は、日本語の「ほら吹き」という言葉を紹介します。

「ほら吹き」は、「物事を大げさに言う人」や「嘘つき」を意味します。

「ほら」は「法螺貝」から来ており、法螺貝は穴を空けると吹奏楽器として用いることができます。

楽器としての法螺貝は、獣避けや戦陣の合図などに用いられてきました。

これは、見た目よりもとても大きな音を発しまするためです。

このことが転じて、「ほら」は意外な大儲けをすることを意味するようになり、さらには「大げさな嘘」を意味するようになりました。

「大げさな作り話」のことを「ほら話」と言ったりもします。

Corrections (2)

No. 1　davidz
  • Today, I'd like to talk about the Japanese word "horafuki".
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • The literal meaning is "a person who blows Hora", and it expresses "a person who exaggerates things" or "a liar".
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • "Hora" in "horafuki" comes from "horagai" (conch), and you can use it as a wind instrument by boring a hole.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Horagai as a wind instrument is used for avoiding beasts, or giving a cue of march.
  • Horagai as a wind instrument is used for avoiding beasts, or giving marching signals.
  • This is because horagai can emit a very loud sound than its looks.
  • This is because horagai can emit a very louder sound than its look capable of.
  • From this fact, "hora" came to mean "an unexpected bonanza", and "an exaggerated lie".
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • By the way, "an exaggerated fuctuib" is referred to as "horabanashi"(a hora story).
  • By the way, "an exaggerated fuctuib" is referred to as "horabanashi"(a hora story).

    don't know what fuctuib should be. It's not an English word

Brilliant work

Toru
Thank you so much for correcting my post!
> don't know what fuctuib should be. It's not an English word
Aw, sorry I made a mistake.
I wanted to write "fiction".
No. 2　SophieB
  • Today, I'd like to talk about the Japanese word "horafuki".
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • The literal meaning is "a person who blows Hora", and it expresses "a person who exaggerates things" or "a liar".
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • "Hora" in "horafuki" comes from "horagai" (conch), and you can use it as a wind instrument by boring a hole.
  • The "hora" in "horafuki" comes from "horagai" (conch): something you can use it as a wind instrument by boring a hole in it.

    Use a colon when the second clause is further describing the first clause.
    たとえば- "I know what scares you: clowns."

  • Horagai as a wind instrument is used for avoiding beasts, or giving a cue of march.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • This is because horagai can emit a very loud sound than its looks.
  • This is because horagai can emit a louder sound than its looks capable of emitting.

    Don't use "very louder"; it's a double intensifier, and those are grammatically incorrect.

  • From this fact, "hora" came to mean "an unexpected bonanza", and "an exaggerated lie".
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • By the way, "an exaggerated fiction" is referred to as "horabanashi"(a hora story).
  • By the way, "an exaggerated story" is referred to as "horabanashi"(a hora story).

    I think "story" would sound more natural than "fiction" in this case.

This was a very informative post. I actually wrote down the word so I can study it later as vocabulary.

Toru
Thank you so much for your helpful corrections!
I'm glad if my post could help you (^^)

Comments