Neko no Te mo Karitai (猫の手も借りたい - I Need Every Help I Can Get)

Jan 11, 2018 10:47
I would like to say the Japanese proverb 猫の手も借りたい (neko no te mo karitai) now.

猫 (neko) means "cat," 手 (te) means "hand," and 借りたい (karitai) means "to want to borrow something."

Therefore, the literal meaning of this proverb is "I want to borrow even if it is a cat hand."

Cats usually don't help us except to catch rats.

If you want to borrow such cats' hands, it will imply that you are very busy.

Because of this, this proverb means that you're busy and need every help you can get.
猫の手も借りたい

私は今、「猫の手も借りたい」と言いたいです。

「猫」は "cat," 「手」は "hand," 「借りたい」は "to want to borrow" を意味します。

したがって、このことわざの文字通りの意味は "I want to borrow even if it is a cat hand" となります。

猫は通常、ネズミを捕まえること以外には役に立ちません。

そんな猫の手でさえも借りたいということは、非常に忙しいということを示唆します。

すなわちこのことわざは、誰でもいいからとにかく助けが欲しい、それほど忙しいということを表します。
No. 1 tony
  • Neko no Te mo Karitai (猫の手も借りたい - I Need Every Help I Can Get)
  • Neko no Te mo Karitai (猫の手も借りたい - I Need All The Help I Can Get)

    "Help" is an uncountable noun, so it cannot be preceded by "every".

  • I would like to say the Japanese proverb 猫の手も借りたい (neko no te mo karitai) now.
  • I would like to explain the Japanese proverb 猫の手も借りたい (neko no te mo karitai) now.
  • Therefore, the literal meaning of this proverb is "I want to borrow even if it is a cat hand."
  • Therefore, the literal meaning of this proverb is "I want to borrow even if it is a cat's paw."

    In English, the 手 of an animal are called "paws."

  • Cats usually don't help us except to catch rats.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • If you want to borrow such cats' hands, it will imply that you are very busy.
  • If you want to borrow a cat's paws, that implies that you are very busy.
  • Because of this, this proverb means that you're busy and need every help you can get.
  • Because of this, this proverb means that you're busy and need all the help you can get.
Toru
Thank you so much for the corrections!
I learned the new word :)
tony
It would of course be strange to translate 誰かに手を差し伸べる as "give someone a paw" or "reach out a paw to someone". ^^