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【No. 1258】Ten ni Tsuba Suru (天に唾する - Slander Flings Stones at Itself)

May 29, 2018 10:36
Have you ever hurt yourself as a result of trying to harm others?

Such a situation is expressed as the proverb ten ni tsuba suru (天に唾する).

Ten (天) means "sky" and tsuba suru (唾する) means "to spit," so the literal meaning of the combination is "to spit on the sky."

As you would guess, even if you spit while looking up, you can't dirty the sky, and your face will get dirty.

Because of this, this proverb is used as the current meaning.

Incidentally, about 20% of Japanese people think that this proverb means "to defile a person in a position higher than myself."
天に唾する

人に害を与えようとしたら、かえって自分自身に害がふりかかってしまったことはありますか?

そのようなことを、「天に唾する」と言います。

「天」は "sky," 「唾する」は "to spit" を意味するので、この言葉の文字通りの意味は "to spit on the sky" になります。

たとえ天に向かって唾を吐いても、空を汚すことはできず、自分の顔にかかってしまいます。

このことから、このことわざは現在の意味で使われています。

ちなみに、約2割の日本人が、このことわざを「自分より上の立場の人を冒とくする」という意味だと思っているようです。

Corrections (2)

No. 1 artboy598
  • Ten ni Tsuba Suru (天に唾する - Slander Flings Stones at Itself)
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Have you ever hurt yourself as a result of trying to harm others?
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Such a situation is expressed as the proverb ten ni tsuba suru (天に唾する).
  • Such a situation is expressed with/by the proverb “ten ni tsuba suru (天に唾する)”.
  • Ten (天) means "sky" and tsuba suru (唾する) means "to spit," so the literal meaning of the combination is "to spit on the sky."
  • Ten (天) means "sky" and tsuba suru (唾する) means "to spit," so the literal meaning of the combination is "to spit in the sky."
  • As you would guess, even if you spit while looking up, you can't dirty the sky, and your face will get dirty.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Because of this, this proverb is used as the current meaning.
  • Because of this, this proverb is used to mean what it does now.
  • Incidentally, about 20% of Japanese people think that this proverb means "to defile a person in a position higher than myself."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

Interesting. It reminds me of “Tom and Jerry” or “Roadrunner” cartoons lol.

Toru
Thank you so much always for correcting my post!
I didn't know the latter animation, but it looks like "Tom and Jerry," isn't it? I will check it. :)
No. 2 Fifi
  • Ten ni Tsuba Suru (天に唾する - Slander Flings Stones at Itself)
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Have you ever hurt yourself as a result of trying to harm others?
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Such a situation is expressed as the proverb ten ni tsuba suru (天に唾する).
  • Such a situation is expressed by the proverb ten ni tsuba suru (天に唾する).
  • Ten (天) means "sky" and tsuba suru (唾する) means "to spit," so the literal meaning of the combination is "to spit on the sky."
  • Ten (天) means "sky" and tsuba suru (唾する) means "to spit," so the literal meaning of the combination is "to spit up into the sky."
  • As you would guess, even if you spit while looking up, you can't dirty the sky, and your face will get dirty.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Incidentally, about 20% of Japanese people think that this proverb means "to defile a person in a position higher than myself."
  • Incidentally, about 20% of Japanese people think that this proverb means "to defile a person in a position higher than oneself."
Toru
Thank you so much for the correction! :)

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