Japanese idioms

5 comments

1. 後悔先に立たず
   Koukai saki ni tatazu.
   Kind of like ‘no use crying over spilled milk’

   仕方ない
   Shikata nai
   This is said all the time, if you speak the language at all you probably know it. ‘There’s nothing you can do’ Basically, ‘shit happens’

   出る釘は打たれる
   Deru kugi ha utareru
   The nail that sticks up gets hammered. Pretty famous idiom, basically means don’t stand out. A very collectivist/anti-individualist sentiment.

   I know a bunch of others if you need more or some specific type.

2. Looked through my Japanese learning bookmarks and found [this](http://nihonshock.com/2010/02/japanese-proverbs-january-2010/). Pretty old but some of my favorites are in there, specifically 6, 15, and 21. There are probably other similar blog sites / articles out there on Google if you need more

3. 七転八起

   nana korobi ya oki

   Falling seven times getting up eight.

   Basically “get back up when you get knocked down and never give up.”

4. My favorite one is 「筆に任せる」 = “leave it to the brush”. The meaning is quite versatile but I just like its connection to calligraphy

5. A little late, but adding one of my faves (I guess it could be considered an “idiom”?)

   方向音痴

   *Houkou onchi*

   This is the word for someone who has no sense of direction. “Onchi,” literally “sound-foolish” is the word for someone who is tone-deaf (like with music), and houkou is direction. So it’s saying the person is “directionally tone-deaf,” which I always thought was fun!