Abura wo Uru (Sell Oil)

Today, I will talk about the Japanese idiom "abura wo uru."

The literal meaning of "abura wo uru" is "to sell oil," and it expresses that someone neglects on his/her work temporarily or has an idle talk.

In the Edo period in Japan, oil sellers chatted with customers for a long time when they sold oil.

Oil has high viscosity, and it took a long time to transfer the oil to customer's container, so oil sellers spent the time talking.

From this fact, to neglect work or to have an idle talk came to be referred to as "abura wo uru."

油を売る

今日は「油を売る」という慣用句を紹介します。

「油を売る」は「一時的に仕事を怠けること」や「無駄話をすること」を表します。

江戸時代の日本では、油売りが客に油を売る際、長々と世間話をしていました。

油は粘性が高く、客の枡に油を移すのに時間がかかるため、その間を雑談で繋いでいたと言われています。

これが転じて、怠けることや無駄話をすることを「油を売る」と言うようになりました。

• The literal meaning of "abura wo uru" is "to sell oil," and it expresses that someone neglects on his/her work temporarily or has an idle talk.
• The literal meaning of "abura wo uru" is "to sell oil," and it expresses that (or: it is used when) someone neglects his/her work or has an idle talk.

• Oil has high viscosity, and it took a long time to transfer the oil to customer's container, so oil sellers spent the time talking.
• (Olive, vegetable) Oil has high viscosity, and it took a long time to transfer the oil to customer's container, so oil sellers spent the time talking.

Interesting. I knew the phrase but not much more than that^_^