Ha ga Uku (歯が浮く - One's Teeth are on Edge)

Ha ga Uku

Have you ever felt uncomfortable because of being told an artificial compliment or genteel words?

Becoming such a feeling is called "ha ga uku" (歯が浮く) in Japanese.

Since ha (歯) means 'tooth' and uku (浮く) means 'to float,' the literal meaning of "ha ga uku" is "one's teeth float."

If your tooth root loosens, you will feel as if your teeth would be floating and feel uncomfortable.

"Ha ga uku" came from this fact.

Interestingly, the English expression "one's teeth are on edge" has the similar meaning of this term.

【Example sentence】
Kare wa itsumo ha ga uku youna oseji wo zyosei ni iu (彼はいつも歯が浮くようなお世辞を女性に言う - He always say shameless compliment to women.)

歯が浮く

見え透いたお世辞や気取った言葉を言われ、かえって不快な気持ちになったことはありますか？

そのような気持ちになることを、「歯が浮く」と言います。

「歯」は "tooth," 「浮く」は "to float" を意味するので、「歯が浮く」の文字通りの意味は "one's teeth float" です。

歯の根元がゆるむと、歯が浮いたように思えて、不快に感じます。

「歯が浮く」は、この事実に由来します。

興味深いことに、英語でもこの不快感を表現する時、"one's teeth are on edge" のように「歯」を使うようです。

【例文】
彼はいつも歯が浮くようなお世辞を女性に言う。

• Have you ever felt uncomfortable because of being told an artificial compliment or genteel words?
• Have you ever felt uncomfortable because of being told a fake compliment or being flattered?

  By the way in English "flattery" can be either good or bad depending on context.

• Becoming such a feeling is called "ha ga uku" (歯が浮く) in Japanese.
• Becoming Such a feeling is called "ha ga uku" (歯が浮く) in Japanese.

• If your tooth root loosens, you will feel as if your teeth would be floating and feel uncomfortable.
• If your tooth root loosens, you will feel as if it is floating, which is uncomfortable.

An interesting post. It's funny the same idiom exists in both Japanese and English. 笑笑