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Category Archives: Yojijukugo
Ta’anit umikveh?
斎戒沐浴sai.kai.moku.yoku Literally: purification – admonition / precept – wash – bathe Alternately: Ritual purification in advance of an important holiday, ceremony, or time of prayer; in particular, fasting and bathing. Notes: This is a compound of compounds. 斎戒 refers to … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged bathing, 耳なし芳一, fasting, purification, ritual, 斎戒, 水木しげる, 沐浴, מקווה, תענית
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“Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth”
– FDR 再三再四 sai.san.sai.shi Literally: again – three – again – four Alternately: Repeatedly; over and over; time and time again. It seems that this phrase is often used while chewing someone out, to emphasize how many times they were … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged again and again, たびたび, 紅樓夢, 繰り返し, repetition, repetition of repetition, Roosevelt, 再四, 再三
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Not quite cuckoo
But closer every day 鳩居鵲巣kyuu.kyo.jaku.sou Literally: dove – sit/be [in a place] – magpie – nest Alternately: Taking someone else’s achievements or social position for yourself. Undeservedly stealing someone else’s laurels or spotlight. Notes: This comes from our friend, the … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged Chinese literature, Classic of Poetry, 詩経, 詩經, 鳩占, 鳩居, 鵲巣, magpies and doves, nest-building, stolen glory, undeserved status, 召南
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Doing the wave
人海戦術 jin.kai.sen.jutsu Literally: person – ocean – war – technique Alternately: Human-wave tactics. Assaulting enemy lines with an unsupported mass infantry charge in the hopes of overwhelming them with sheer numbers. By extension, any strategy of throwing large numbers of … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged brute force, human wave, military analogy, people power, strength in numbers, 戦術, 人海, 作戦
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And the Wild Things gnashed their terrible teeth
And clenched their terrible arms? 切歯扼腕 se-.sshi.yaku.wan Literally: cut – tooth – dominate / obstruct – arm Alternately: Convulsive rage (or frustration, or other negative emotion). Grinding the teeth and clenching the arms against one’s body. Being so worked up … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged anger, bad mood, teeth, Where the Wild Things Are, 切歯, 史記, 史记, 扼腕, 搤腕
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It didn’t work for stoicism
一子相伝 i-.sshi.sou.den Literally: one – child – mutual – transmit Alternately: A traditional system where the inner, secret, or ultimate teachings of an art, craft, school of thought, etc. are passed on to exactly one heir (usually from a father … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged 父子, 相伝, inheritance, Marcus Aurelius, sake brewing, secret teachings, ultimate technique, 一子
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Look at me, look at me, LOOK AT ME NOW!
(And pay no attention to the man behind the curtain) 自己顕示 ji.ko.ken.ji Literally: self – self – appear – indicate Alternately: Making oneself apparent. Speaking up, standing out, catching attention; making oneself conspicuous or unignorable; working to advance one’s own … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged attention, cat in the hat, 自己, 自己顕示欲, 顕示, limelight, social media, standing out, Wizard of Oz, 大統領振りの奴
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When you write the right rite
温柔敦厚 on.juu.ton.kou Literally: warm – soft – kind – thick / kind Alternately: Kind and gentle, considerate and loving. Notes: This is a compound of compounds. 温柔 expresses a warm, mild disposition; 敦厚 is humanity and kindness. Similar terms include … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged Classic of Rites, 礼記, ducks, human kindness, Liji, Raiki, warm, 敦厚, 温柔
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Fly, cow, fly; cow, fly, cow
蚊虻走牛 bun.bou.sou.gyuu Literally: mosquito – horsefly – run – cow Alternately: Something powerful being defeated by something weak; the great overthrown by the small. Literally, a cow being driven to run away by the onslaught of tiny biting flies. Alternatively, … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged biting flies, 牛羊, David and Goliath, 虻, 蚊, 說苑, 説苑, 走牛, large small, mosquito
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I know why the caged monkey sings
籠鳥檻猿 rou.chou.kan.en Literally: cage – bird – (jail) cell/pen – monkey Alternately: Unfree; specifically, having had one’s freedom taken away. Living like a bird – or monkey – in a cage, unable to do what you want. Notes: This phrase … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged Bai Juyi, bird, cage, circumscribed, 白居易, 籠鳥, exile, monkey, poetry, unfree, 元稹, 檻猿
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