ことわざ・四字熟語 of the Week

Japanese
#41

and would the 正反対のことわざ be 土俵際?

（１１：５９）提出期限が今日の12時なので、土俵際で出した！

(or something, I went to see the sumo in London and learnt this phrase after going down a sumo related vocab rabbit hole!)

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#42

勿鯛ないですね

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#43

Im from the uk and have never heard of thid neither have anyone I asked :rofl:

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#44

think it’s a slightly old fashioned saying that I’ve picked up from watching old shows etc.

#45

Your bringing up of this Britishism makes me want to teach our lovely Japanese senseis about the rhyming slang (Australia imported it from you guys and some of us still occasionally use it. I learned most of it from my grandpa).

“What’s on the me and you (menu)?” was a big one.
“Noah’s ark (shark)”
etc.

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#46

Since 土俵際 is a word that describes ‘the moment the outcome of a situation is decided’, it would not be used as an antonym!

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#47

勿鯛なすぎる :rofl:

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#48

Love these! Thank you :slight_smile:

Does anybody have a link to a good ことわざ anki deck with audio?

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#49

There’s a good yojijukugo deck (for Kanken prep, don’t think it has audio), but for general kotowaza I’ve just been mining Fuga’s example sentences in this thread :slight_smile: (and obviously have others I’ve mined when I saw them in the wild)

#50

四字熟語 of the week :memo:

本末転倒
ほんまつてんとう

Meaning:
To mix up the order of priorities between what is important and what is not.

Context:
This 四字熟語 states that the 本 (what should be prioritized) was not prioritized and that 末 (the thing that is not high priority) has prioritized instead.

This is a 四字熟語 that derives from Buddhism. In Buddhism, the main temple that was founded by the founder of each sect was called the 本山（ほんざん）and the branches of those temples were called the 末山 （まつざん）. Although the 末山 were just supposed to be branches that lead people to the 本山, there were times were the 末山 had more supporters, making the 末 more influential than the 本.

When is it used?
This 四字熟語 is used when someone fails something due to losing sight of what truly matters. Although the origin of this 四字熟語 may seem positive (something less important becoming more powerful), this carries a negative nuance.

Example:

会社が効率化のために新しいシステムを導入したが、かえって業務を複雑にしたから本末転倒だ。

My company implemented a new system to improve efficiency, but it has only served to complicate operations, which defeats the purpose of implementing a new system.

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