Learn some common Japanese idioms
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some common Japanese idioms? |
| Risa: And how are they used? |
| Michael: At JapanesePod101.com, we hear these questions often. |
| Imagine the following situation: Mark Lee is talking to Ai Nakamura. He is surprised that Noriko Nagaoka knows so many people and says, |
| "Ms. Nagaoka really knows a lot of people." |
| Mark Lee: 長岡さんは本当に顔が広いですね。(Nagaoka-san wa hontō ni kao ga hiroi desu ne.) |
| Dialogue |
| Mark Lee: 長岡さんは本当に顔が広いですね。(Nagaoka-san wa hontō ni kao ga hiroi desu ne.) |
| Ai Nakamura: そうですね。色々な人を知っていますね。(Sō desu ne. Iroiro na hito o shitte imasu ne.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Mike Lee: 長岡さんは本当に顔が広いですね。(Nagaoka-san wa hontō ni kao ga hiroi desu ne.) |
| Michael: "Ms. Nagaoka really knows a lot of people." |
| Ai Nakamura: そうですね。色々な人を知っていますね。(Sō desu ne. Iroiro na hito o shitte imasu ne.) |
| Michael: "Yes, she knows a lot of people." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Did you notice the expression Mark Lee used to say "knows a lot of people"? Rather than using the verb |
| Risa: 知っています (shitte imasu), |
| Michael: meaning "knows," he used |
| Risa: 顔が広い (kao ga hiroi), |
| Michael: which literally means "face is wide," but it is an idiom that translates as "to know a lot of people" or "to have many connections." In this case, the noun |
| Risa: 顔 (kao), |
| Michael: which literally means "face," refers to the person, Noriko Nagaoka. When used with the adjective |
| Risa: 広い (hiroi), |
| Micheal: meaning "wide," it implies that she is known by a wide range of people. In Japanese, as in many other languages, there are many idioms involving body parts. Another such example is the idiom |
| Risa: 腹が立つ (hara ga tatsu), |
| Michael: which means "to become angry," but literally translates as "one's belly stands up." The first part, |
| Risa: 腹 (hara), |
| Michael: meaning "belly" or "stomach," is used here as it was once believed human emotions were piled up in the stomach. The following verb, |
| Risa: 立つ (tatsu), |
| Michael: literally means "to stand" or "to stand up," but here it's used to complete the idiom meaning "to become angry." One can imagine several emotions gathering up inside the stomach and that's where the expression |
| Risa: 腹が立つ (hara ga tatsu) |
| Michael: most likely comes from. When one gets really angry or annoyed, one can say |
| Risa: ああ、腹立った！(Ā, hara tatta!) |
| Micheal: to express their frustration and anger. Notice how the particle |
| Risa: が (ga) |
| Michael: is dropped. This is because in spoken Japanese, just like in English, speakers tend to shorten their utterances by cutting out parts that are not essential for conveying their message. Interestingly, although |
| Risa: 腹が立つ (hara ga tatsu) |
| Michael: is used quite often in everyday conversation, it is in fact an old idiom which can be found in folk tales from the 10th century. Another common idiom is the expression |
| Risa: 鼻が高い (hana ga takai). |
| Michael: This literally means "the nose is high," but it translates as "to be proud" and it is sometimes used in a pejorative manner. There are two main theories for where hana ga takai originated. One is relatively simple: Whenever we're proud, we tend to raise our chin, and thus our nose. Another theory relates to legendary Japanese creatures named tengu, or "heavenly dogs," which are known for their long red noses. Legend says that tengu used to be buddist monks, but since they were too proud and overconfident, they became monstrous creatures. A proud person is therefore said to have a long, or rather high, nose due to their would-be resemblance to the tengu. Now let's look at two other idioms involving a body part: |
| Risa: 首になる (kubi ni naru), |
| Michael: "to be fired," or literally, "to become a neck," and |
| Risa: 首にする (kubi ni suru), |
| Michael: "to fire someone," or literally, "to make someone a neck." In this case, "neck" symbolizes the head, and there are several theories for trying to explain the roots of these idioms. One of them draws from the feudal practices of either cutting one's head as a form of punishment, or cutting the head of a person who attempted ritual suicide, or harakiri, in order to end their suffering. According to this theory, |
| Risa: kubi ni naru and kubi ni suru |
| Michael: both originated from these practices, but later became synonymous with cutting one's relationship with another person, and later yet with the act of being fired or firing someone else. |
| Another theory, on the other hand, relates to traditional Japanese doll theater, or |
| Risa: 浄瑠璃 (jōruri), |
| Michael: in which each doll is made up of six parts. For each play, actors change the heads of the dolls so that the dolls can differ as required for each specific play. When plays are over and the dolls are no longer needed, actors remove the heads of the dolls, along with their necks. |
| Before we conclude, let's now cover two idioms which aren't related to the body. Let's start with |
| Risa: 油を売る (abura o uru), |
| Michael: which means "to idle one's time away" or "to loaf," but literally means "to sell oil." In the Edo period, between the 17th and 18th century, when oil lamps were commonly used, oil sellers would go directly to their customers' houses in order to refill their oil. This task usually took some time, so while the lamps were being refilled, sellers would partake in some small talk with their customers. This is where the meaning of "to idle" or "to loaf" was derived. Now for one final idiom: |
| Risa: ごまを擦る (goma o suru) |
| Michael: "to butter someone up," or literally "to grind sesame." Here, the word |
| Risa: ごま (goma) |
| Micheal: means "sesame" and the word |
| Risa: 擦る (suru) |
| Michael: means "to grind" or "to rub." You may know the similar sounding word suru which can mean "to do" but these are two different words and they follow two different conjugation patterns. The masu form of suru meaning "to do," for example, is |
| Risa: します (shimasu), |
| Michael: whereas the masu form of suru meaning "to grind" is |
| Risa: すります (surimasu). |
| Michael: As for the origins of |
| Risa: ごまを擦る (goma o suru), |
| Michael: there are a few different theories, but one of them relates to an old practice in Japan in which young monks in training would grind sesame for their master when dining together. It was said that the better the young monks did their job, the better their master's mood, and hence came the meaning of "buttering someone up." It's also worth mentioning that the movement of "grinding the sesame," where one hand is circulating over the other, also became associated with the meaning of "buttering someone up." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: Let's now review the idioms that we've learned. Risa will give you the idiom in Japanese; try to remember its English equivalent. Are you ready? |
| Risa: 顔が広い (kao ga hiroi) |
| [Beep. Pause 3 seconds.] |
| Michael: "to know a lot of people" or "to have many connections" |
| Risa: 腹が立つ (hara ga tatsu) |
| [Beep. Pause 3 seconds.] |
| Michael: "to become angry" |
| Risa: 鼻が高い (hana ga takai) |
| [Beep. Pause 3 seconds.] |
| Michael: "to be proud" |
| Risa: 首になる (kubi ni naru) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Michael: "to be fired" |
| Risa: 首にする (kubi ni suru) |
| [Beep. Pause 3 seconds.] |
| Michael: "to fire someone" |
| Risa: 油を売る (abura o uru) |
| [Beep. Pause 3 seconds.] |
| Michael: "to idle one's time away" or "to loaf" |
| Risa: ごまを擦る (goma o suru) |
| [Beep. Pause 3 seconds.] |
| Michael: "to butter someone up" |
Outro |
| Michael: That's all for this lesson. Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Risa: またね！ (Mata ne!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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