白いカラス ("white crow")

[meshuggener]

Hi everybody! I've just discovered that Philip Roth's Human Stain novel has been translated into 白いカラス in Japanese. Does this expression ("white crow") mean that someone stands out from a group of people or taht he is a lone bird or anything else? When can it be used?

[Javizy]

According to eijiro it means あり得ないもの 'something impossible', it also mentions the movie The Human Stain. I've never heard the expression in either language, so I can't tell you any more than that.

[jemstone]

i think you mean "white class" right? coz カラス sounds more like "class" than "crow".

[Javizy]

i think you mean "white class" right? coz カラス sounds more like "class" than "crow".

クラス is 'class', カラス is 'crow'. I think the kanji is 烏, but it's more often written in katakana. I think a lot of bird names are written like this, but in this case I'm not sure why, since the more stroke-heavy 鳥 and 鶏 aren't uncommon. It's best to just go along with these writing customs most of the time.

[shiawase101]

I think this is a real insight.

Shiroi karasu (白い鴉) : this is the first time I have heard of this expression but it is very definitely a common theme in a couple of sites that mention it: I think we need native language input to unravel the exact reference.
Googling the term I come across a track by kagerou called Shiroi Karasu which I have just seen it features the line which seems transparent enough:
"itsumo no kaeri michi hitori arukinagara"

so the inference seems obvious: someone who is outside. Unfortunately the guy? in the song is alone in apparently a routine, boring, everyday way!