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【No. 1262】Hyakka Ryouran (百花繚乱)

Jun 2, 2018 15:58
Three days ago, I introduced you to the Japanese idiom ken wo kisou (妍を競う), which means that women compete based on their beauty.

Today I would like to talk about the four-character idiom hyakka ryouran (百花繚乱), which is related to ken wo kisou.

Hya/hyaku (百) means "hundred," ka (花) means "flower," ryou (繚) means "twisting around," and ran (乱) means "disorder."

This idiom can literally mean that various flowers are blooming in profusion.

In addition to that, by comparing beautiful flowers with people, it can mean that excellent people/beautiful women are gathering.
百花繚乱

三日前、「女性が美しさを競う」ことを意味する慣用句「妍を競う」という言葉を紹介しました。

今日はこの言葉と関連する「百花繚乱」という四字熟語を紹介します。

「百」は "hundred," 「花」は "flower," 「繚」は "twisting around," そして「乱」は "disorder" を意味します。

この言葉は4つの漢字が意味するとおり、「さまざまな花が色とりどりに咲き乱れるようす」を表すこともあります。

さらに、「美しい花」を「人」にたとえて、「優れた人や美女が大勢集まるさま」を意味することもできます。

Corrections (1)

No. 1 Tom
  • Three days ago, I introduced you to the Japanese idiom ken wo kisou (妍を競う), which means that women compete based on their beauty.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Today I would like to talk about the four-character idiom hyakka ryouran (百花繚乱), which is related to ken wo kisou.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Hya/hyaku (百) means "hundred," ka (花) means "flower," ryou (繚) means "twisting around," and ran (乱) means "disorder."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • This idiom can literally mean that various flowers are blooming in profusion.
  • This idiom can literally mean that various flowers are blooming in abundance.

    Nobody says profusion, you'll probably confuse most native speakers ;)

  • In addition to that, by comparing beautiful flowers with people, it can mean that excellent people/beautiful women are gathering.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

I like it! I tried to think of a similar idiom in English, but couldn't come up with one. The closest I got was "a sausage fest" which is when there are too many men at a party! :D

Toru
Thank you so much for correcting my post and letting me know the expression!
I learned something new. :)

By the way, I used the word "profusion" because I referred to the following pages:
http://www.romajidesu.com/dictionary/meaning-of-%E7%B9%9A.html
https://www.nihongomaster.com/dictionary/entry/46930/hyakkaryouran

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