Yakeishi ni Mizu (焼け石に水 - An Effort that's Bound to Fail)

Yakeishi ni Mizu

Slight efforts or supports could be not useful.

The Japanese proverb ‘Yakeishi ni mizu’ (焼け石に水) expresses that.

‘Yake’ (焼け) means “burnt,” ‘ishi’ (石) means “stone,” and ‘mizu’ (水) means “water,” so the literal meaning of ‘yakeishi ni mizu’ means “(put) water on a burnt stone.”

As you can guess, even if you put a small amount of water on a burnt stone, the water evaporates soon, and there is little change in the temperature of the stone.

Because of this, ‘yakeishi ni mizu’ has come to mean that a small amount of efforts or supports has almost no effects.

焼け石に水

努力や援助が少ないと、何の役にも立たないことがあります。

このようなことを表すことわざに「焼け石に水」があります。

「焼け」は “burnt”、石は “stone”、水は “water” を意味するので、このことわざの文字通りの意味は “water to a burnt stone” となります。

焼けて熱くなった石に、少量の水をかけたところで、水はすぐに蒸発してしまいます。

このことから、「焼け石に水」は少しの努力や援助では効果がないことを表すようになったというわけです。

• Yakeishi ni Mizu (焼け石に水 - An Effort that's Bound to Fail)
• Yakeishi ni Mizu (焼け石に水 - An Effort That's Bound to Fail)

• Yakeishi ni Mizu
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• Slight efforts or supports could be not useful.
• Slight efforts or supports are not useful.

• The Japanese proverb ‘Yakeishi ni mizu’ (焼け石に水) expresses that.
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• ‘Yake’ (焼け) means “burnt,” ‘ishi’ (石) means “stone,” and ‘mizu’ (水) means “water,” so the literal meaning of ‘yakeishi ni mizu’ means “(put) water on a burnt stone.”
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• As you can guess, even if you put a small amount of water on a burnt stone, the water evaporates soon, and there is little change in the temperature of the stone.
• As you can guess, even if you put a small amount of water on a burnt stone, the water evaporates quickly, and there is little change in the temperature of the stone.

• Because of this, ‘yakeishi ni mizu’ has come to mean that a small amount of efforts or supports has almost no effects.
• Because of this, ‘yakeishi ni mizu’ has come to mean that a small amount of effort or support has almost no effect.