I remember having once heard the phrase “kore wa kore, sore wa sore” from a Japanese person. I am aware of the literal meaning, but I am wondering whether this is actually an idiom or a figure of speech that has a meaning beyond the literal. I have tried Google for an explanation, but while Google already has saved it as a search term, as well as a variant with reversed order (“sore wa sore, kore wa kore”), meaning that other people must have heard it and wondered about the meaning, and I found a few instances of it being used, I was unable to actually find any explanation of the phrase that way. I’m hoping that perhaps someone here will be able to provide such, much obliged! 🙂
5 comments
I have no idea other than what anyone could guess, but I’ll comment so that your odds of finding out are better 🙂
It’s like “this is this and that is that” in that when someone is talking about something and someone says something like “ok, but…” and they give a reason and you then you respond with “this is a different situation and that example is not relevant here.” Example:
Kid: “Mom, I want the new Naruto video game that just came out, Timmy’s parents buy him lots of games.”
Mom: “Kore wa kore, sore wa sore” (that is Timmy’s family, you are not in Timmy’s family, and Timmy’s family has nothing to do with this)
I would think it is emphasizing the difference between the things.
One usage of は is emphasis. それ食べたくない could be translated “I don’t want to eat that”, while the は in それは食べたくない implies there is something else they want to eat (I.e that is gross!). So a better translation would be the same words but with an empasuzed “that”. E.g. “I don’t want to eat THAT! (Eww)”
Edit: well if y’all going to downvote me, could you at least correct me with a comment? は as emphasis/contrast is a nuanced usage of the particle I thought was worth mentioning here.
Non-literal, equivalent in English? Wouldn’t it be “apples to oranges”?
Another example would you be if you sleep with you friends wife and someone says: But he eas your friend how could you.
Then you say “Sore wa sore, Kore wa kore”