Pour some water on the lava, it would do nothing.
This is what we call in Japanese
“yake ishi ni mizu” = water on burning rock/s,
which means something useless or futile, fruitless.
From country to country, language to language, we often focus on different aspects of things to describe them. Knowing them might help you learn more about the country and its people.
Here are some examples of famous remarks we have in Japanese.
Should you ever have any trouble translating JP ⇔ EN, our dictionary might help.
How to read this page
Original Japanese expressionEnglish translationPronunciationNotesNow lets begin!
それではさっそく見てみましょう！
So it means that we describe someone who does something important is like holding a house/building underneath the floor without being seen.
Well, I believe many Japanese don’t really want to stick out of their groups and some people use this expression in a good sense. They want to stay together, look and behave in the same way, so they won’t get kicked out of their community.
Trains and buses that don’t get late for 1 min, you are supposed to be in a meeting or party at least 5 mins before.
When directly translated, this one would be like “wearing cat’s hide.” If you are a girl and pretending to be cuter in front of a man you like than usual, then you are wearing cat’s hide.
馬の耳に念仏
豚に真珠
Buddhism prayer to a horse
Pearl for a pig
uma no mimi ni nenbutsu
buta ni shinju
Often this expression is used to mean a guy who has two or more girlfriends at the same time. Me? I have myself ;(
During spring season, they often enjoy “hanami,” a form of party that takes place under trees of cherry blossoms. While the parties literally means “flower seeing,” but they have something better to do; drinking.
さて、今回のコンテンツはどうでしたか？
Well, how did you like the contents this time?
There are Japanese students who are willing to study English just like you want to study Japanese.
もっと日本語に関わりたい！もっと日本について知りたい！と思ったら、weblioで英会話講師に挑戦しませんか？
If you want to know more about Japan or Japanese, why don’t you try English tutoring in Weblio?
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ご応募お待ちしています！
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