Te wo Someru (To Dye One's Hand)

Yesterday, I introduced a Japanese idiom "ashi wo arau" (to wash one's feet), which means "to quit crime or evil jobs."

Today, I will talk about the Japanese idiom "te wo someru" (to dye one's hand), which means "to start things or jobs."

The most widely accepted theory about the etymology is that "染める(someru)", which means "to dye", was originally "初める(someru)", which means "to start".

Also, there is another theory: once you dye your hand with dye ink, it will remain for a long time, as well as once you start something, it's hard-to-quit.

Since "te wo someru" is often used with words related to crime, many people think of it as "to start bad things," but it actually means just "to start something."

By the way, I heard that when you want to express "te wo arau" in English, you can say "to get one's feet wet."

手を染める

昨日は、「悪行や悪い仕事をやめる」という意味を持つ「足を洗う」という言葉を紹介しました。

今日は、「物事や仕事を初める」という意味を持つ「手を染める」という言葉を紹介します。

「手を染める」の語源で最も有力な説は、もともと「初める」という漢字だったというものです。

また、何かを初めるとなななか抜け出せないことと、手を染料で染めるとなかなか落ちないことをかけているという説もあります。

「手を染める」は、よく「犯罪に手を染める」のように悪事と一緒に使われていることから、悪い意味を持っていると思われがちですが、実際には単に「何かを初める」という意味しか持ちません。

ちなみに英語では「足」を使って "to get one's feet wet" のように表現することができます。

Yes we have a similar idiom in English. To wash your hands of... means to quit something or deny responsibility of.

• Also, there is another theory: once you dye your hand with dye ink, it will remain for a long time, as well as once you start something, it's hard-to-quit.
• Also, there is another theory: once you dye your hand with ink, it will remain for a long time, so once you start something, it's hard to quit.

  There is another theory. Once you dye your hand with ink, it is hard to get off, and once you start something new it's hard to quit.