Idiomatic Phrases
猫に小判 neko ni koban
– Literally: gold coins to a cat.
– Meaning: Giving a gift to someone who
can't appreciate it; A useless gesture;
"Pearls before swine."
– Background: According to superstition,
cats love round, shiny objects like coins
even though they're ignorant of their true
use, so this proverb also carries the
connotation of an objective pursued
without completely comprehending it.
猫に鰹節 neko ni katsuobushi
–Literally: fish to a cat.
–Meaning: A situation where one
can not let their guard down
(because the cat can't resist
stealing your fish).
七転び八起き nanakorobi yaoki
–Literally: stumbling seven times
but recovering eight.
–Meaning: perseverance is better
than defeat.
–Equivalent: perseverance is the
key.
三日坊主 mikka bōzu
–Literally: a monk for (just) three
days.
–Meaning: Giving up at the first
sign of difficulty.
花よりだんご hana yori dango
Literally: dumplings over
flowers
• Meaning:The person to whom
it is directed prefers practical
gain to aesthetics
水に流す mizu ni nagasu
–Literally: let flow in the water
–Meaning: Forgive and forget;
water under the bridge
雨降って地固まる
ame futte chi katamaru
–Literally: after the rain, earth
hardens
–Meaning: Adversity builds
character.
–After a storm, things will stand on
more solid ground than they did
before
油を売る abura o uru
–Literally: to sell oil
–Meaning: to spend time
chitchatting or to waste
time in the middle of a task
• Background: Comes from Edo period hair oil
salesmen who took their time chitchatting
with the customers when selling
Four-character idioms
竜頭蛇尾 ryuutou dabi
–Literally: dragon, head, snake,
tail
–Meaning: Anticlimax, the
beginning is like a dragons head,
great and majestic and the
ending is like a snakes tail, tiny
and pathetic.
晴耕雨読 seiko udoku
–Literally: clear sky,
cultivate, rainy, reading
• Meaning: Farm when it's
sunny, read when it rains
四面楚歌 Shimen soka
–Literally: Soka on all sides
–Meaning: Defeat is clear;
Situation is desperate beyond
hope.
–Source: Xiang Yu, recorded by
Sima Qian, Records of the
Grand Historian
十人十色 jūnin toiro
–Literally: ten persons, ten
colors
–Meaning: To each his/her
own. / Different strokes for
different folks.
• Note: This is also a pun, since even the
character "十" is read in two ways, jū and to.
三日坊主 mikka bouzu
–Literally: 3 day monk
• Meaning: Someone who gives
up easily or is adverse to work
大同小異 daidō shōi
–Literally: big similarity, small
difference
–Meaning: Similarities outweigh
the differences.
–Source: a shortened passage
from Zhuangzi.
一石二鳥 isseki nichō
–Literally: one stone, two birds
–Meaning: Killing two birds with
one stone; Doing 2 things with
one action.
– Source: Unknown. No similar line is known
in Chinese texts and presumed a
translation of an English saying, "Kill two
birds with one stone."
雲散霧消 unsan mushō
–Literally: scattered clouds,
disappearing mist
• Meaning: Disappear without a
trace
我田引水 gaden insui
–Literally: pulling water to my
own rice paddy
–Meaning: Doing/speaking
about things in a way to benefit
yourself.
• Source: unknown, though both Gaden and
Insui appear in the Chinese classics. It is
presumed to be coined in Japan
夏炉冬扇 karo tōsen
–Literally: Summer heater winter
fan
• Meaning: Something which is out
of season and therefore rendered
useless
起死回生 kishi kaisei
–Literally: Wake from death and
return to life
• Meaning: To come out of a
desperate situation and make a
complete return in one sudden
burst
瓜田李下 kaden rika
–Literally: Melon field, under a plum tree
–Meaning: Stepping into a melon field,
standing under a plum tree (such behavior
causes misunderstanding that you want to
steal those fruits); implying that you must
avoid actions which could be taken on a
bad faith.
– Source: a shortened passage from a poetry of 劉
克荘 (Liou)
花鳥風月 Kachou Fuugetsu
–Literally:
Flower+Bird+Wind+Moon
–Meaning:Beauties of Nature