ことわざ・四字熟語 of the Week

[Fuga]

ことわざ of the week

This week’s ことわざ is :

知らぬが仏
しらぬがほとけ

Translation:

Not knowing is Buddha.

Meaning:

Knowing something could make you mad or could cause you stress, but if you stay ignorant, you could live in peace like Buddha.

Context:

The origin of this proverb is the いろはかるた from the Edo period. いろはかるた was a educational game that taught lessons through pictures and proverbs that went with it.

When is it used?

It is used in similar situations as the English phrase ‘ignorance is bliss’. It is used when you find out the truth about something, and you wish you never knew. It is also used when you want to let someone know that they will regret knowing the truth.

Sometimes the phrase 知らぬが仏、知るが煩悩 (ignorance is bliss, knowledge causes suffering )will be used.

Example:

大好物なお菓子の原材料を知ってしまったが、知らぬが仏で、知りたくなかった。

I found out what they use in my favorite snack, but ignorance is bliss—I wish I hadn’t known.

[Fuga]

ことわざ of the week

This week’s ことわざ is :

浮世渡らば豆腐で渡れ
うきよわたらばとうふでわたれ

Translation:

If you are going to travel the world, travel as a tofu.

Meaning:

If you are trying to make it in the real world, it is best to to look square (diligent), and be gentle and flexible on the inside.

Context:

Tofu on the outside looks sturdy and tough because they are usually cube shaped and have edges, but once you touch it, you realize that they are very soft.

When is it used?

This ことわざ is using the appearance and the texture to say that in order to make it in the world, you have to look serious/diligent, but it is also important to have a soft and flexible mind while being nice to those around you.

Example:

面接に行く前に髪を黒に染めたほうがいいぞ、浮世渡らば豆腐で渡れ。

You should dye your hair black before you go to your interview, if you want to make it in the real world, travel as a tofu.

[bunnypro]

@Fuga

If you are going to travel the world, travel as a tofu.

I can confirm that this is solid advice (I always transform into tofu when going somewhere)

[Fuga]

四字熟語 of the week

已己巳己
いこみき

Meaning:

A word that describes things that look similar.

Context:

The exact origin of this is unknown, however, it is said that this 四字熟語 existed in the Edo period.

This is a unique 四字熟語 in the sense that the meaning does not come from the meaning of each individual kanji, but instead it comes from the appearance of the kanji. As you can probably tell, 已, 己, and 巳 look almost identical, and you need to look very carefully to be able to tell the difference.

When is it used?

This is usually used towards people or things that look similar.

Example:

妻と義理の母の後ろ姿は已己巳己である。

My wife and my mother in law look identical from behind.

Similar 四字熟語/phrase
大同小異
瓜二つ

[Fuga]

四字熟語 of the week

一騎当千
いっきとうせん

Meaning:
To be as strong as a mounted samurai that can defeat 1000 enemies.

Context:
Like many 四字熟語 used in Japanese, many have Chinese origins. It is said that the original version of this 四字熟語 came from a historical book called the 北斉書(ほくせいしょ). This was a piece of text that recorded things that happened in China during the 6th Century. In this book, a warrior was described as 一人当千 (strong enough to defeat 1000 enemies alone), to describe how strong he was.

Up until the Muromachi period, Japanese texts used the Chinese 四字熟語, 一人当千, however, in a text that is said to be written during the Muromachi Era, they started to use 一騎当千 along with 一人当千.

Historians believe that people back then changed一人 to 一騎 to make it more relatable to them since samurai often rode horses into battle.

When is it used?
This is used to describe a person that is very good at something or very talented at what they do.

Example:

あのチームのメンバーは一騎当千の強者揃いだ。

All the players on that team are the best of the best.

[Fuga]

ことわざ of the week

This week’s ことわざ is :

二階から目薬
にかいからめぐすり

Translation:
Eye drop from the second floor.

Meaning:
A state of frustration due to things failing multiple times.

-and/or-

For something to be very inefficient.

Context:
This ことわざ was first seen in a poem written in a novel called 『風流御膳義経記』, which was published during the Edo period. The original quote was 「二階から目薬をさす仕掛け、さりとは急な恋ぞかし」, or ‘Applying eye drops from the second floor…what a sudden romance!’ in English. This poem was written to express how frustrating love can be when there is emotional distance between a man and a woman, like how applying eye drops from the second floor would cause frustration.

The ‘eye drops’ mentioned in this poem is very different from the eye drops that we are used to, back when this was written 目薬 was an ointment that was applied to eyelids.

When is it used?
Although this ことわざ is very popular, and people use it a lot, there are a lot of people that misinterpret the proverb. Some people (including myself before looking into this), assume that this is talking about how some things are left to luck since dropping an eye drop into someone’s eye from the second floor would require some luck.

However, the actual meaning of this is ‘to feel frustration due to things not going smoothly’ and ‘a metaphor to describe things that take a roundabout way, but yields no results, making it inefficient’.

Example:

パワハラ癖のある上司にあんな優しい注意の仕方じゃ二階から目薬だ。

Using such a gentle approach with a boss who has a habit of power harassment is very ineffective.

[Fuga]

四字熟語 of the week

我武者羅
がむしゃら

Meaning:

To act recklessly without thinking about the consequences.

Context:

There are several theories of where this 四字熟語 came from, but one of the main theory is that 我武者 used to be 我貪（がむさぼり）, then the pronunciation slowly changed from がむさぼり to がむしゃ, so they applied the kanji 我武者 to fit the sound of the word (当て字). It is also said that the last kanji of the word is also an 当て字.

When is it used?

This 四字熟語 is used to describe people who act without thinking about the consequences, but depending on the region it could also refer to people that are brave, do the best they can do, eat a lot, or people that look untidy.

Although this has a slightly negative nuance attached to it, in recent years the nuance has started to shift towards the positive side. When used positively, it is used to describe someone that works extremely hard.

Example:

あの人は我武者羅な人だ。

He’s a reckless person. (or He’s a person who works frantically.)

[Fuga]

ことわざ of the week

This week’s ことわざ is :

痘痕も靨
あばたもえくぼ

Commonly written in hiragana

Translation:

Scars are also dimples.

Meaning:

Even scars on a person’s face look like dimples if you love them.

Context:

痘痕 or あばた is a word that describes a scar that is left after having smallpox or chickenpox. Smallpox was such a widespread disease, and because they left scars on your face, they were referred to as the 美目定めの病 during the Edo period since it made a person look ‘less beautiful’.

However, this ことわざ is saying that if you really love someone, even those scars on their faces look like beauty marks.

When is it used?

This proverb is used when you want to express that someone is blinded by love. Although this may seem like a proverb with a positive nuance, this is actually used with a negative nuance most of the time.

It is used when someone is so blinded by love that negative traits of a person seem like a positive trait to them. It is never used by the person who is blinded by love, but usually by people around them to either warn them or ridicule them.

Example:

そんなことしてくるのに愛してるの？それこそ、「あばたもえくぼ」だよ。彼からは一回ちょっと距離をとって冷静に考えてみたら。

You love him even though he does such things to you? This is what you call ‘blinded by love’. You should distance yourself from him for a while and think things through.

Caution

As mentioned above, this ことわざ has a negative nuance so you should be careful when using this since it could lead to conflict if you use this towards someone you do not know too well.

[Fuga]

四字熟語 of the week

自業自得
じごうじとく

Meaning:
You reap what you sow.

Context:
When Buddhism reached China, the word Karma was translated to 業 (ごう), which translates as ‘conduct’ in English. This means that 自業 means ‘one’s own actions’. 自得 means ‘to gain something all by yourself’. This means that when they are combined it creates a phrase that has a similar meaning to the English phrase ‘you reap what you sow’. When you hear 自業自得 used in the wild you may notice that it is only used with a negative nuance, but originally it was used to teach that any good or bad you do will come back to you.

When is it used?
Although this proverb was used with both a positive and a negative nuance, now it is strictly used with a negative nuance since.

This 四字熟語 is used similarly to the English phrases ‘you reap what you sow’, and ‘they got what they deserved’.

Example:

あいつはずっと彼らを騙していたから、自業自得だよ。

He has been lying to them the whole time, so he deserved that.

[bunnypro]

@Fuga Would it be OK with you if I make a deck of all the ことわざ・四字熟語 from this thread that I can find on Bunpro’s system?

It would be good to read your posts and then practise and retain the new knowledge using Bunpro’s SRS

[amberglade]

This is also a nice site to pull from:
https://proverb-encyclopedia.com

Cute illustrations with explanations and examples

[Fuga]

Of course you can! I think that’s a cool idea!

[bunnypro]

Great! I’ll start digging through later

[Fuga]

ことわざ of the week

This week’s ことわざ is :

寝耳に水
ねみみにみず

Translation:
Water in sleeping ears

Meaning:
To be shocked or surprised about an information you are hearing for the first time.

Context:
There are two theories of how this ことわざ came to be. In both theories, 寝耳 refers to a sleeping person’s ears.

Theory one: Before flood-control measures and forecasts were a thing, hearing the sound of water while sleeping could have been jarring since depending on the severity of rain, it could have been a life or death situation.

Theory two: A water droplet entering your ears, while sleeping, could be quite a shocking event.

Although these theories are very different, it expresses a situation that is considered shocking or surprising.

When is it used?
It is used when an information you heard is new to you, and is used both positively and negatively.

Example:

ハーバードに合格した知らせは、両親にとって寝耳に水だった。

The news that I got accepted into Harvard came as a complete surprise to my parents.

[Fuga]

暴飲暴食
ぼういんぼうしょく

Meaning:

To eat and drink excessively

Context:

This is a 四字熟語 that simply means ‘to eat and drink excessively’. The 飲 used here usually refers to alcohol.

When is it used?

This 四字熟語 is usually used with a negative nuance since doing anything excessively can be considered unhealthy. It is usually used when someone binge eats and drinks due to stress or just for the sake of eating and drinking.

Example:

昨日は何もかもうまくいかなかったから、家に帰って暴飲暴食してしまった。

Yesterday, everything went wrong, so I went home and binged on food and alcohol.

[Fuga]

ことわざ of the week

This week’s ことわざ is :

後の祭り
あとのまつり

Translation:
The second festival

Meaning:
By the time you realize something, it is too late and there is nothing you can do to undo it.

Context:

There is a festival that is held in Kyoto, called the Gion festival. This is a month-long festival that goes on throughout July. On the 17th of this month, many 山車（だし）or floats are paraded throughout the streets of Gion, and this is known as the 前の祭り. Then on the 24th of the same month, another festival known as the 後の祭り was held (discontinued in 1966), but because no floats were used in this festival, there were less attendees and made it seem like you missed out on the actual festival.

When is it used?
This ことわざ is used to indicate that something is beyond repair and that there is nothing you can do to fix it.

Example:

提出期限が１ヶ月もすぎてるから、今から提出しても後の祭りだ。

The deadline was a month ago, so submitting it now would be too late.

[SoreWaMaichiru]

Thanks as always for the regular posts here.
Quick question, 山車-I see a reading called ‘さんしゃ’. Is this used ever?

[Fuga]

Glad you enjoy the posts! Although it may be used, だし is the most common reading for this word!

[jrmr50]

And on the other side of the world, in the UK, we have a phrase who’s origin is similar:

“After the Lord Mayor’s show”

It means to be late to something, and you’ve missed out on the good bit.

Basically there’s a parade through the streets of the City of London (the most central bit), and it features horses. So everyone is cheering and waving and enjoying the parade, afterwards people come scoop up all the horse poo to keep the streets clean. So there meaning is you’ve missed all the fun and you’re left with the poo job

Usage example; you’re talking with a friend about last nights party,
“How was the party?”
“Ugh, it was a bit after the lord mayor’s show as by the time I got there, everyone was drunk and all the food had been eaten.”

[Fuga]

This is a big TIL for me!

It’s crazy to me how different cultures have similar proverbs with similar origins!