The answer is 2. That is, 大風呂敷 (ōburoshiki) means “blowing one’s own horn; big talk; vain boasting or bluster.”
A sample sentence:
彼の大風呂敷はいつものこと。
Kare no ōburoshiki wa itsumo no koto.
He is always talking big.彼 (kare: he)
Did you notice that you don’t even need a verb such as 言う (iu: to speak) here? The noun 大風呂敷 seems to cover the bases! Neat and efficient!
However, if you do long to use a verb with 大風呂敷, here’s how you can do it:
大風呂敷を広げる (ōburoshiki o hirogeru: to talk big, to be bombastic) big talk (1st 4 chars.) + to spread
You may recognize 広 from 広い, hiroi, “wide.” A related word is 広げる, hirogeru, “to spread, extend, expand, enlarge, widen, unfold, open, unroll.”
So if you unfold your big furoshiki, you’ll find bombast inside.
You’ve undoubtedly seen images of a hobo with his belongings in a sort of furoshiki on the end of a stick.
Dirty Decker
Credit: Adam Koford
Fergus Pennybottom
Credit: Adam Koford
Did you ever once think that those downtrodden sorts were concealing bombast in their cloth wrappers? OK, maybe it’s conceivable that this guy is:
Mr. Bob Awesome
Credit: Adam Koford
Here’s another term for something wrapped in a furoshiki:
風呂敷包み (furoshiki-zutsumi: something wrapped in a furoshiki)
furoshiki (1st 3 chars.) + bundle
