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Category Archives: Yojijukugo
Wrack, wrack, wrack your brains
And your body too! Merrily… ? 意匠惨憺 i.shou.san.tan Literally: mind – artisan – harsh – calm Alternately: Doing one’s utmost in an act of creation (especially artistic creation) or design; painstaking attention to detail and agonizing effort for the purpose … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged attention to detail, careful thought, Du Fu, 讃嘆, maximum effort, 惨憺, 惨澹, 意匠, 杜甫
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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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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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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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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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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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Just lions having fun!
And… gin? 獅子奮迅 shi.shi.fun.jin Literally: lion – child – vigorous – quick Alternately: Highly-energetic, even violent activity. Doing things in a furious, intense, or overwhelming way. Ferocious, or at least energetic, like a lion. Notes: This phrase apparently comes to … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged Buddhism, 獅子, energy, ferocity, Large Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, linguistic trivia, lion, Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra, translation, 大般若波羅蜜多経, 奮迅, 師子
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Ningen shikaku
(More or less) 四角四面 shi.kaku.shi.men Literally: four – corner – four – face Alternately: Square. Four (equal) angles and four (equal sides), just like it says. By extension, a “square” personality: extremely, perhaps even overly, serious. Meticulous; stiff; formal; lacking … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged 真面目, paladins played this way are boring, serious, square, 四面, 四角, 太宰治
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I have seen tempests
櫛風沐雨 shi-.ppuu.moku.u Literally: comb – wind – wash – rain Alternately: Wind-blasted and rain-drenched. With one’s hair blown about by wind and one’s body washed by rain; by extension, someone who is out struggling in story weather because of work … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged 荘子, 莊子, hard work, Shakespeare, stormy weather, wind and rain, Zhuang Zhou, Zhuangzi, 櫛風, 沐雨
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