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Source: Bud
Its the big container for your brain, otherwise known as your head. can also refer to a more
metaphorical head the top of something, like a department head or the top of a peak and it can
double as a synonym for the mind, brain, and intellect. You probably already know how to call
someone (or yourself) smart by saying literally, head is good. But theres
three variations on dumb (lit. to have a weak head, bad head, and dull head)
And here are things that can be done to heads with verbs:
Unlike English where you can idiomatically let your hair down when youre ready to pahhtayyyy, this
word is really straightforward and only means what it means. When you cut your hair, you literally cut
your hair () and when you fix your hair you literally fix it (). When
your hair is long you say its long () and when its short you say its short (
).
Source: Sarahnaut
You probably dont often chat with people about your forehead. So why is this worth knowing? Because
the Japanese do, when they want to remark on how teensy tiny something or somewhere isits as
narrow as a cats forehead or narrow like a cats forehead. ( or
)
Source: Leo U
Its the side of the head with all the holes in it, otherwise known as the face. Sure enough, its the go-to
noun when you want to discuss your physical face, but its also strongly associated with conceptual
face or reputation and thats where the fun begins. For example:
to maintain ones status or keep face (lit. to have ones face stand)
Source: Valerie
Here we have the ears, tunnels to your eardrums. Not surprisingly, is frequently conflated with
hearing, just as you can lend an ear in English when youre listening to someone. Coincidentally,
Japanese also has the same phrase; lit. to lend an ear. And when you want to
exclaim Thats news to me! you can say hatsu mimi (; lit. first time ear). A few other handy
phrases include:
refer to experiences more generally, to particular viewpoints, and to the looks or glances we trade with
other humans. Eye level can indicate hierarchical status, toothats why lit.
a person above the eye) refers to someones superior or senior, and ; lit. a
person below the eyerefers to someones inferior or subordinate. Other eyeball-filled idioms
include:
eyes spin)
to have a weakness for something (lit. to have no eyes)
a feast for the eyes (lit. a New Years for the eyes)
Source: RRGreen123456
The nose knows. As youve probably guessed by now, (like the other sensory organs) doubles as a
synonym for the sense itselfin this case, smell. So when someone takes of their shoes and the scent
punches you in face, you can say that the scent lit. sticks to your nose). Its
also used more whimsically as a marker of pride, in phrases like:
nose)
to laugh scornfully (lit. to laugh with the nose)
But lets not forget that the time were most likely to be concerned about our nose is when its not
behaving well. That is, when youve got a runny nose ; lit. nose water
comes out so you grab a tissue ; lit. nose paper and end up giving yourself
a nose bleed; lit. nose blood).
OR
of your mouths)
to be a natural born talker (lit. to be born
from a mouth)
to cajole someone (lit. to take someone for a ride on a
mouth vehicle)
to have a sharp tongue (lit. to have a bad mouth)
Source: Antony
Here we have the shoulders, or the sloping line from your neck to your upper arms. Given the
tendency have of getting stiff from stress, its probably not surprising that they appear as metaphors
for responsibility (much like shouldering a burden in English). Their role in defining physical
posture also plays into how theyre used in Japanese to express position and stance. In that vein,
lightened)
to support someone; to stand by someone (lit. to hold someones shoulders)
can stand in for a means or a way more generally, hands being a means to accomplish
ring finger (lit. medicine finger; medicine paste used to be applied with this
finger)
pinky finger (lit. smaller finger)
Other than that, theres only a few idiomatic phrases worth learning. When youre giving something a
try, in English we might say youre dipping a toe in, but in Japanese its dipping a finger in
; lit. to dye a finger). Then theres a pretty visual phrase for looking on enviously
without doing anythingto put a finger in ones
mouth).
Source: kani-jessy
Moving on further south, we land at the stomachnot the organ itself, though! Thats for another day.
This is the exterior stomach area, linguistically linked in Japanese with instinctual feelings and with
peoples REAL intentions or thoughts. Some examples are:
stomach)
ones real intentions (lit. stomach intentions)
OR
Source: pleshops
Flipping over to the other side of the body we have the back. This probably appeared in two of the first
descriptors you ever learned in Japanese, when you had to describe your ideal romantic partner in
stilted sentences at 8AM (or maybe that was just me). So-and-so is tall or ; lit.
to have a high backand so-and-so is short ; lit. to have a low back). In
addition to height,
OR
to follow others blindly (lit. to ride a butt horse; aka the last
horse in a line)
an abrupt ending (lit. the butt cut off)
the ground)
to be tripped up (lit. to have ones legs taken)
OR
Source: Janine
Last and possibly least, we have the toes. Because instead of giving them a dedicated word, Japanese
just smashes together two other anatomy words when they bother to refer to them at all (lit.
fingers of the leg). Alternately, theres ; lit. tip of the (finger or toe) nailswhich is
actually usually translated as tiptoes, not toes. BUT! If you want to scream about how you just stubbed
your toe, its lit. to bump into with tiptoes). Go figure.
There we have it Japanese anatomy from head to toe. Of course, some body parts didnt make the
cut (my apologies to elbow and eyelash) but the goal here was to lay a solid foundation by focusing on
basic words that either differ from English usage and/or pack a cultural punch. Hopefully the idioms
not only give you some insight into Japanese conceptions of the body but also help you remember the
names of the body parts themselves. So now if you do indeed fall on your butt in front of everyone in
Japan, you can impress the stunned onlookers by exclaiming, (
; I fell on my ass!; lit. I made butt mochi!). In fact, I might just start saying that in English.