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Category Archives: Japanese
Don’t just tread on it
Make sure your neighborhood is friendly to mongooses 蛇の生殺しは人を噛む (Hebi no namagoroshi wa hito wo kamu; “A half-killed snake bites a person”) Definition: If you take action but don’t finish the job, you only invite harm. A snake wounded but … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Kotowaza
Tagged a wounded snake, 蛇の生殺し, lingering danger, not dead yet, work left unfinished, 人を咬む, 人を噛む
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Wolves among the flowers
落花狼藉 ra-.kka.rou.zeki Literally: fall – flower – wolf – spread Alternately: Things are scattered or disorganized. Chaos and disorder. Violence, especially violence directed towards women and children. Notes: As with last week’s yojijukugo, this is a compound of compounds, with … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged chaos, current events, 狼藉, 落花, poetry, violence, 和漢朗詠集
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An ounce of prevention is worth….
Buy it when prevention is cheap, not when cure is costly 治に居て乱を忘れず (Chi ni ite ran wo wasurezu; “In peace, do not forget strife”) Definition: Even in times of peace and safety, it’s still necessary to plan ahead in case … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Kotowaza
Tagged Book of Changes, Chinese literature, classical grammar, preparation, prevention, when times are easy the wise get going, 易経, 易經, 易经
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Sedition
乱暴狼藉 ran.bou.rou.zeki Literally: disorder – violence – wolf – spread Alternately: To engage in violent and unlawful behavior; to ignore reason and act wildly and destructively. Rioting; committing outrages. Notes: It is an error to replace 藉 with homophone 籍, … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged criminal violence, 狼藉, Daitaku Temple, history repeats, insurrection, 吾輩は猫である, 夏目漱石, 乱暴
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Never bring a gun to a stats fight
Seriously; that’d be a crime. 下手な鉄砲も数撃てば当たる (Heta na teppou mo kazu uteba ataru; “Even an inept gun, fired a number of times, will hit.”) Definition: Even if someone is very bad at something, with enough tries they’ll produce strong results … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Kotowaza
Tagged blind luck, clumsy, law of averages, marksmanship, statistics, 当たり, 数撃ちゃ, 数撃てば, 下手な鉄砲
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Kaitenzushi
I certainly prefer it to the pork 行雲流水 kou.un.ryuu.sui Literally: go – cloud – flow – water Alternately: Going where the wind and tides carry you, instead of sticking with one thing or staying in one place. Constantly changing rather … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged ancient China, トンポーロー, 苏轼, 蘇軾, 行雲, go with the flow, peripatetic priest, wandering, 子瞻, 宋史, 東坡肉, 流水
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Hefty fluff
重箱の隅を突く (Juubako no sumi wo tsutsuku; “To poke at the corners of a juubako”) Definition: To fuss over trivial details; to nitpick; to carp endlessly about fine points that don’t actually make a difference. The image is of someone who … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Kotowaza
Tagged complain, 穿る, 重箱, hairsplitting, Japanese culture, linguistic trivia, pilpul, traditional food service, 口うるさい
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A life spent just hanging around?
一生懸命 i-.sshou.ken.mei Literally: one – life – hang / depend – life / destiny / decree Alternately: Putting maximum effort into something. Striving as hard as you can; putting your very life on the line. Notes: The original form of … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged hard work, life at stake, semantic evolution, utmost, 懸命, 一生, 一所
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Next verse, same as the first
二の舞を演じる (Ni no mai wo enjiru; “to dance the second dance”) Definition: Committing someone else’s previous errors, even with the awareness of what has happened. Seeing someone fail, and then making the same mistakes. Breakdown: This simple phrase begins three … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Kotowaza
Tagged 舞楽, 雅楽, failure to learn from the past, Heian court, repeated errors, song and dance, 二の舞
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If you meet the Buddha on the road, eff him
Is the word “ineffable” a paradox? 不立文字 fu.ryuu.mon.ji Literally: non – stand – sentence – letter Alternately: The Buddhist observation that satori (“understanding,” specifically insight into the true nature of reality) is not something that can be written down or … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged Buddhism, 無門関, description vs experience, the limits of language, Zen koans, 文字, 无门关, 不立
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